Takapuna Motor Lodge

A great choice for a stay in Auckland,” offers one booking website. But a reviewer wrote: “Avoid this hotel like the plague."

I just want to avoid someone else staying there and having the same experience.” Our prices, in terms of Takapuna, it’s not like we are a four-star, five-star hotel so sometimes I don’t know if the expectation of the customer is [excessive]... He also actioned Baldwin’s refund, saying a third-party booking site was to blame for the delay. Ward’s room was next to that shed of crap and the playground, where she’d expected her kids to hang out. In a statement, MSD regional commissioner Dan Brunt said, “we expect our clients to get the same quality of service as any other paying guest”. Check out was the same: drop your key in a lockbox and leave. A full ashtray on the balcony. What looked like spots of black mould on a duvet cover, and on the shower ceiling. But it didn’t take long to find glaring deficiencies: a smoke alarm lying loose on a shelf, the battery removed. It was, says Ward, the worst place she’s ever seen, and she’s She posted a warning to her friends on Facebook (“Worst motel I’ve ever stayed at!”), asking them to spread the word, and it found its way into my feed. They’re all describing the same place: the Takapuna Motor Lodge, a low-rise motel in the beachside North Shore suburb, which once boasted of a heated pool, spa and children’s playground.