We love this area with the small motel being quiet, close to a great beach and an easy walk to the Whitianga ferry. We are now an elderly couple but first enjoyed Flaxmill Bay in the 1970s with a young family.
On this occasion we had quite a problem with an electricity outage in our unit (No. 2) just after we arrived, probably thanks to a lightning strike. We phoned the owner who contacted the motel's maintenance man. He phoned me, got me to check that all appeared well with the motel's power board, then arranged for an electrician to call. The electrician found that there was an area-wide line fault that left only one phase operating of the three-phase supply. The other three units were empty and unit 1 next to ours still had power, so the owner kindly let us move into that unit where we had lights, could cook our dinner and watch TV. We moved back to our original unit the next day after its power was restored.
So, although we had a problem that was not the motel's fault, phone calls to the off-site owner resolved the issue by graciously letting us occupy two units.
As others have noted, the motel is very affordable, clean, basic, with Freeview TV channels only and no phone or WiFi. A washing machine in each unit with powder supplied would be a bonus to families. Bathroom and kitchen facilities have been modernised, though the showerbox was 'retro' with laminate walls, a stainless tray and separate taps. Note also without on-site service, some small things like tea/coffee sachets and milk are not replaced - at least over the three days we stayed. But that didn't worry us and we would certainly come back.