We spent two enjoyable days at Craicor's garden apartment.
Garth was a very welcoming host and the apartment was spacious,clean and comfortable. The deck outside our room provided a lovely view of the garden.
The bathroom was spacious and included a washing machine.
We felt very relaxed in the apartment when we returned from our days exploration of the area.
The apartment is just over 5 minutes from restaurants, the wharf and supermarket
Thank you for taking the time to review us. Happy travels
we stayed in the garden room at this venue, it was a lovely apartment of high quality, pleasantly situated in a beautiful garden with a distant sea view. within easy walk of the restaurants etc, friendly hosts too
Thank you for taking time to review us. We do appreciate your positive comments that will assist more travellers to find their preferred accommodation.
We started our tour of the north with 4 nights in the Garden Suite & boy was that a great decision. Garth looked after us with some quality kiwi hospitality & was more than happy to give recommendations about what to see & do. The apartment is huge & has everything you need to enjoy your stay in Paihia. The garden setting is serene & as others have commented its great hearing the birds chirping away in the beautiful garden. We also liked the fact that you could walk down to a couple of bars within 3 minutes & the ferry to Russell along with a bunch of other restaurants was only 10 minutes walk from the apartment. Would highly recommend!!
Thank you for your review. It is always heartening to know we are doing the right thing. We are lucky being central yet in our own private oasis. Happy travels.
Cheers Garth
A very spacious sunny room with a sea view, lovely gardens immediately outside the door (full of roses in June) Small, well equipped kitchen area. Ensuite bathroom with large shower and a washing machine. Great host. Highly recommended.
Thank you for your review. We are very happy you enjoyed our place. Happy travels.
Cheers Garth
We chose Piahia as our first stop on a 3 week trip around North Island, wanting to stay for around 5 days to relax & sight see the Craicor Treehouse ticked all the boxes when we found it online.
Located about 2 minutes walk from the beachfront, Craicor was easy to find. We drove up the little sloping drive & plonked the car in its own parking spot with a pathway of steps through the trees leading up to the accommodation.
We arrived late and found a little note on the table telling us to check in at the main house just up through the garden. Garth greeted us & gave us the introduction to the place. His knowledge of things to do, places to eat & the potential weather were a huge help in planning what we might do over the next few days. We managed to avoid the worst of the bad weather!
They had kindly stocked us with coffee & tea, leaving a jug of fresh milk in the fridge.
We chose the place for a few reasons...
Location, being close to the beach, shops & restaurants. Which it really was. To walk to the nearest corner shop was about 2 minutes, to the larger store no more than 10 minutes & the selection of places to eat was vast being all within a 10 minute walk. It also has great access to sightseeing things.
Decor was another reason. A lot of other accommodation looked really dated in appearance and we wanted a comfortable, more luxurious stay for our holiday. The pictures match up to the reality well. Comfort wise, the bed was big and really comfortable, we slept really well. If needed there were electric blankets already tucked up in the covers for added warmth, extra blankets and a wall mounted radiator. We used this a couple of times as it felt like the damp from the bathroom escaped into the room a little, and the heater helped. The shower was lovely & hot and a good pressure.
Cost was another factor and this was at the top end of what we were hoping to pay. Compared to other places charging similar, Craicor seemed good value for money & much nicer in appearance.
We didn't see our hosts again until check out, although Garth told us to come up to the house should we need anything. The bins were emptied twice during our 5 night stay, towels changed once & coffee restocked which was perfect.
Sightseeing things...
The Bay of Islands boat tour.
The ferry across to Russel which we thoroughly recommend, it's lovely there. We did a few walks through the reserve there & to a gorgeous beach on the far side.
Piahia is also close to the Treaty Grounds & Haruru falls (the falls were okay but nothing special).
Kawiti Gloworm Caves. Smaller than Waitomo and cheaper... 30 - 40 minutes in the caves with a tour guide. No photos allowed.
We drove up to Cape Reigna on one of the days which took just under 3 hours from Paihia, and was an awesome day out if you don't mind driving.
Kerikeri is also worth a visit, especially the Stone Store & Honey House cafe.
There was a local market on Sunday on the green by the pier selling local crafts which was nice to look around.
One thing to note is that during peak season, cruise ships drop off their passengers for a day of sightseeing & they book onto the local tours & the place generally seems a lot busier. We chose to visit other places during this time. 2 ships visited over the weekend whilst we were there, I'm not sure whether they drop off mid week also, ask the really friendly locals!
We really rate this place... they also have another unit under the main house facing into their flower garden which looked lovely from the outside too!
Thank you for a wonderful stay, for being great hosts & for the little festive Christmas tree in our place! Our time went speeding by!
We really appreciate you taking the time to write such a comprehensive review of our accommodation and what our area has to offer. We are sure intending visitors will find this helpful. Thank you and happy travels.
Cheers Garth.
