Novotel Rotorua Lakeside Hotel 4.5 stars

Location is perfect. Breakfast however is very low quality, mostly canned fruit available nothing fresh, cheap sausages, restaurant is messy at peak time. Facilities are very old, lack of maintenance is pretty evident, our bathroom was mouldy, extract fan not working. Swimming pool not as shown in the photos, it was very tiny and urgently needs an upgrade.

Receptionist warm and friendly, no delays and smooth with pre booking via internet. Room comfortable with fantastic towels and facilities. We loved the dinner banquet and variety of selections as well as the breakfast buffet. Having music while dining was an added bonus. Location - access to massage facilities, cafe and walks. So handy.

Great hotel in a wonderful location. Room was spacious and the lake view lovely. Highly recommend the breakfast and it was good to have the pool too. Kids loved it.

Check in prompt efficient and friendly. Opted for buffet meal in evening, well supplied with everything, nice soup, nice seafood and meats. Dessert was an over indulgence. Temperature of some of the buffet dishes could have been slightly warmer, however this didn't detract from the flavour. Comfortable sleep that night. Buffet breakfast, good coffee, great fruit, good hot foods. Day out wandering around Rotorua then back for a swim and then dinner, similar to night one but different foods tried. Another good nights sleep. Breakfast again, lovely poached eggs. Check slightly mucked up, but in general a great time. The really great thing were the young team members were great to interact with, friendly, polite, ready to have a laugh but stay professional

Great check in - great amenities - fabulous restaurant food. Room furniture is starting to show wear but the beds are nice and comfy and the linen is fabulous quality

Locality was great, food usual for this type of hotel (hot and cold options), employees were helpful and friendly, live music was lovely. HOWEVER, the room I was allocated was dirty - stains on the carpet, stains in the toilets, marks on the wall, stains in the draws, cobwebs on the windows. The only place I felt safe on was the bed! I think it was given the worst room in the hotel. I have stayed before and my experience was very different.

I was in room 220 and the air condition was not working properly. My son slept with his shirt off,we didn’t use the duvet or the sheet. The front desk,offered a fan but couldn’t find one. They also offered a room change but my kids were asleep already. Short of giving me a complimentary night there was nothing they could do. The wall was pretty thin where the bathroom was so when the shower was on,it was so loud. A bit of mould on the walls in the shower as well.Other than that, the facility was good and the location was great.

We had a good stay, appreciated the call before we arrived to check the room we had booked had sufficient beds (It didnt) and the help to fix that at no extra cost. We didn't dine at the restaurant as were there for a function down the road and its location was great as could easily walk there even with two young children. Beds were comfortable, pillows were ok too, enjoyed the bath and the airconditioning. Really nice helpful and friendly staff at reception at when we called for more milk and cups. Will definitely stay again.

Close to town and basic friendly welcome on entry. Comfortable bed and clean and tidy room.

1 night stay, ok. Stayed in 327 & 329. the double room the kids were in we felt had better view than the King room on 329. would have been better to have the King as 327 as it seemed to have a better outlook from the bed.

The toilet was so disgusting that the public toilets are 100% cleaner than that. The whole bathroom was filthy, there were black mould marks on the tiles, ceiling and the bath tub, the shower curtain had turned yellow from inside, it seemed like no one had cleaned or been in that room in a decade. There was a disgusting pee like smell in the room, it was just terrible.

Welcoming, easy check in, beautiful facilities, views to die for and always received service with a smile. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to stay in Rotorua.

Reviewed: 16 January 2021 The location is great and we’ve stayed here before for work and leisure. Overall we were disappointed. We were travelling as a family and Rotorua was a stopover on our way further north. Unfortunately our granddaughter was ill and we had to stop in Taupo where we spent 6 hours in ED. They said they might have to transfer her to Rotorua hospital and we told them that’s we were heading so they dosed her up and told us to take her to the hospital the next morning. We’d contacted the Novotel twice to let them know that we may be late. On our second call, they said if we had to cancel there’d be no charge which was great however we had to continue through to Rotorua to see a paediatrician. We checked into the Novotel at 12.15am, exhausted. The room was great- just what we booked. Everyone was still exhausted in the morning so we checked with the hotel to stay another night in the same room. I asked for a cheaper rate because we hadn’t had the full use of the room but they said no. While my daughter and I took my granddaughter to the hospital(another6 hours) they moved us into a smaller room. When we got back from the hospital I saw the manager, Jess and she first of all asked why we’d been moved, then argued that the room was the same size as the room we’d been moved from before agreeing to 10% off the second night. Then she called me later to tell me the reason we had the other room the first night was because we were upgraded. No Jess, we’d booked that room and not only did you downgrade us but you charged us the same rate! The second room must have been a standard room because of the quality, comfort and size. The lack of empathy and compassion from reception to management was so disappointing!! Some people clearly shouldn’t be working in hospitality! The hospital staff were all lovely and we were grateful for the care and attention my granddaughter got. Sadly, Novotel have really got to step up their game!!!!!!!

Nice bar for a night cap. Room a little tired. Old aircon unit, pretty much on or off, very little control of temperature. Nice beds and pillows.

Very enjoyable stay. Beds be the most comfortable ever come across. Everything clean n well maintained. Only issue for us was there were no towels available after swimming but apart from that 100% happy