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Curious794674

Great views from well maintained property.

Review of Villa del Lago
4.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed 15 Oct 2022
Property was mostly as expected and we enjoyed a lovely 5 night stay. Great views. Very pleasant walk into Queenstown and a short drive when traffic allows. There are no restaurants close to this property but plenty in Queenstown and at Five Mile.

Kitchen was well equipped, beds very comfortable and linen spotless but only one bath towel per person which made heated towel rails a bonus.

We had a 2 bedroomed villa with the lounge/kitchen on one level and the bed and bath rooms below. This meant that during the day, using the bathroom meant negotiating and flight of stairs.

A warning, if you are taking a three bed villa, the third bedroom is located above the lounge area and the bathroom is two levels down. Quite an inconvenience in the middle of the night.
Date of stay: October 2022
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Nik Kiddle, Owner at Villa del Lago, responded to this review
Responded 19 Jan 2023
Thanks for your review. We have housekeeping staff on site each day and they are happy to drop off extra towels should they be required.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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Reviewed 25 July 2022 via mobile

Spent couple of nights at Villa del Lago while we were in town. Check-in was smooth except that everything was self-serviced and their reception was closed (yes, you won’t be welcomed or greeted by anyone). The one bedroom apartment was big and cozy despite it’s bit dated; and the lake view from there was magnificent. One of the problems we have had is accessibility issue. There are in fact a lot of stairs from main entrance down to the apartment, and it’s really difficult to move our suitcases from up there to down here. If you only have a backpack, you may have no issue; but if you have 2 suitcases and more like us, then it will be hard (especially under heavy rain and when everything are outdoor without any cover and ground can be slippery). So, be prepared for some fat burning exercise lol!! Also, I’d suggest to drive if you decide to stay here. Yes, it’s around 20 minutes walk to town center but it is definitely not a good idea to walk under strong wind and heavy rain. And let’s not forget taxi is hard to get (as you are away from town centre); and Uber is not reliable at all. Overall, I wouldn’t describe Villa del Lago as a small luxury hotel but a self-catering Airbnb style apartment. Even they have charged quite an amount of cleaning fees, the room itself is not 100% clean; and they would still request the guest to throw all the rubbish into the bin somewhere out there in the car park and to clean everything that have been used before check-out. Feel like we can get something nicer with the same amount of money next time.

Date of stay: July 2022
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
1  Thank RilakkumaV25
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nik Kiddle, Owner at Villa del Lago, responded to this reviewResponded 11 August 2022

Thank you for your review. Yes, we have stairs between the car park and our 1 Bedroom Suites, but there are no stairs between the car park and the 2 and 3 Bedroom Villas. We clearly specify on our website that there are stairs from the car parks to the 1 bedroom suites. We are not located in town, but in a quiet place away from the noise of the town centre. Villa del Lago was built in 2000, so it is not new, but all of the kitchens, bathrooms, beds, carpet, timber flooring, soft furniture and decorative cushions and throws are new. Pre-Covid, we offered a fully serviced Reception as well as daily servicing and midstay cleans. Unfortunately, we have been hit very hard by Covid and government immigration and border policies. We are operating with very limited staff because we simply cannot recruit staff here at the moment. Its is for this reason that we ask guests to take away THEIR rubbish and place it in the large bank of bins in the car park. We do not ask guests to clean their apartment. Our costs have also gone up dramatically including staff wages and the cost of all services including laundry as well as the cost of room amenities. Our end of stay cleaning fees only just cover all these costs. July, particularly during the school holidays was a very busy period for us and with very limited staff, we appreciate some tolerance and understanding. Our nightly rates are still well below pre-Covid levels.

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Reviewed 15 October 2021

Stayed her during lockdown in August/September 2021. Charlotte really helped us out here with a great apartment. Must be one of the most comfortable stays we have experienced. Though it's getting a bit dated and really needs a deep clean, overall the apartment is extremely 'livable' and of a great size. The views are just simply epic!! Apartment is on the lake's edge and you can start the Frankton walkway from your doorstep. The walk to Queenstown is a very easy 20 or so minutes. Absolutely great...so lucky to spend lockdown here.

Date of stay: August 2021
    • Value
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
Thank Leo13531
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 22 July 2021

Pros: The 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom Lake View Apartment was spacious and warm, had a gas fire and heaters going. Beautiful contempory bathrooms. Excellent mountain views from most directions beyond a row of flats. Handy to town with a car or a $10 Uber ride.
Cons: Interior did not reflect the freshness of the photos- interior a bit dated and in need of a deep clean. It may have just been the apartment we were in. Room service was sketchy and it was difficult to get ahold of anyone to sort this- however, they did sort it after I managed to get ahold of someone.
For the price during high season, I thought it was decent value for money. Definitely not 4-5 star accomodation, but comfortable.

Date of stay: July 2021
    • Value
    • Rooms
    • Service
Thank H M
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nik Kiddle, Owner at Villa del Lago, responded to this reviewResponded 30 August 2021

Thanks for staying with us over these challenging times. As you can imagine, Covid has dealt a terrible blow to tourism accommodation businesses in Queenstown. We lost most of our staff last year and with borders closed, only a few customers throughout the year and no certainty going forward. It has been difficult to keep the remaining staff we have. We had a small peak over July, the only peak we have had in 18 months and we had to manage this peak short staffed. We are also operating limited reception hours in order to stay afloat. We hope you will understand that we are no longer able to operate at our normal levels of service.

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Reviewed 21 March 2021

We arrived late afternoon to a key box with parking intructions. Our designated bay was taken. From the office it was 40 steps down the hill to the villa. The offer to help with carrying the bags up did not eventuate with no one in the office on departure day. I questioned the $127 added cleaning fee on the 2nd day of 3 when we arrived back to an unswept floor. With no broom provided the least the cleaning fee should include sweeping the floor. The Villa's are close to the CBD and the walkway that ran just metres from our villa made for a nice walk to town. We feel that more information should be given about the concrete outside steps to get to the Villa. The jetty shown online was a feature we didnt see, probably because the banks are overgrown. The Villa was well appointed and having a washing machine, dryer and a clothes rack was excellent. Being lake front accommodation the jet boats with many people on board doing donuts in front of the villa from early morning vastly detracted from the quiet of the place.

Room tip: Choose a Villa nearer the road, but the road noise on the busy road could be an issue.
Date of stay: March 2021
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
4  Thank vomo2i
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nik Kiddle, Owner at Villa del Lago, responded to this reviewResponded 19 May 2021

Hi and thanks for your review. Prior to Covid we used to operate a Reception from 8.15am to 7pm 7 days per week. With border closures and few New Zealand guests, our business has been gutted and we simply cannot afford to operate a fully staffed Reception anymore. We have been running at a loss for the past year. We explained in our welcome letters that we do apologise that we may not be there to greet you. There are no 'designated' parking spots. We show a map with parking areas, and guests are free to park in whichever parking space is available. We specify on all of our sites that there are external flights of stairs to all of our 1 bedroom Suites. If you would like help with your bags, we would need to set this up with our housekeeping team in advance. We conduct a daily service, details of which are specified inside the apartment. This includes making beds, taking away rubbish, wiping down tables and replacing amenities and replacing towels if they are on the floor. We don't do dishes and vacuum unless you stay for for more than 4 nights, then we do a full mid stay clean. We provide a dustpan and brush under the sink for floor crumbs. In order to lower our rates from pre-covid levels and ensure our housekeeping costs are covered, we had to add the cleaning costs as an added extra. This is very common with Airbnb bookings. We pay our staff the living wage and the cleaning fee only just covers the cost of staff, amenities and linen. The jetty is on the lakefront and the section is very steep. There are stairs down to the beach and jetty. There are beech trees between the beach and Villa del Lago.

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Reviewed 16 January 2021

Great location, clean and spacious. Perfect for our family holiday. Everything we needed for our stay. Very helpful staff. Daily cleaning an added plus. Would definately recommend this place to friends and family.

Date of stay: January 2021
Trip type: Travelled with family
Thank TanyaC1569
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nik Kiddle, Owner at Villa del Lago, responded to this reviewResponded 18 February 2021

Thank you so very much for staying with us and for your kind review. We really appreciate it.

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