Best Albert Town Hotels

The accommodation options in Lake Hawea are limited to the hotel (closed for the night we wanted to stay), The Camp, and private rentals. Normally we would stay in Wanaka but we wanted to avoid the larger townships due to Covid, and it was just one night passing thru on the way to Haast. Our stay at a cottage was on a small rise. I felt the cottage could do with a spruce up as it was rather dated and wasn't really value for money. Just needs a refresh. The Camp itself is geared towards campers and glampers and motorhomes, thus the name, and a classic Kiwi holiday style. The Camp is on the shores of Lake Hawea, nice watching campers enjoying their watersports, and campers doing their camping ”thing” - ie just sitting around relaxing / taking it easy. Despite no full view of the lake, it was nice sitting outside on the cape cod style chairs just soaking up the warm autumn weather after a long day travelling.

I would probably hesitate to recommend this place, as it still has a way to go with the small touches that make you overlook larger issues. We booked a one-bedroom apartment, and when we showed up, were given a one-ROOM studio with a door leading to kitchen and lounge facilities shared with six other studios. Absolutely not what we booked; we are not backpackers and would never book something with shared anything. To be fair to property, this appears to be a *********** error with the description rather than the property’s fault. And the lady at reception was genuinely lovely and helpful throughout our whole stay. That said, it was a bit grim. The studio was SMALL, and had a bar fridge - with the previous occupant’s half-eaten food still in it- (!!!!) that rattled and buzzed so much we turned it off. No space for anything but one small bag. We were then asked if we’d like to upgrade to the only remaining apartment; a two- bedroom affair that cost another 100 dollars. We chose yes, obviously. Much more spacious, but several issues. The living room had air con but was missing any blinds, and with sunset not till 9pm this time of year, the sun blared straight in and made the TV unwatchable till dark. An otherwise well-stocked full kitchen was missing oil, milk, cold water, any kind of water jug, and anything at all to clean with after cooking - the only cloths on the room were tea-towels. The listed washer and dryer were not present at all. All manageable till bedtime. The bedrooms - jeeeeeez. No air-con upstairs, and what feels like no insulation. I have a travel thermometer. The bedrooms were stuffy and hot as hell- 28 degrees celscius with no way to cool them down. No air-con, not even a standing fan. A tiny window that could only be opened a few centimetres. After several sleepless hours I went downstairs and tried to sleep on the couch in the living room. Which due to the missing blinds was lit up like a Christmas tree by the streetlight directly outside. I got three hours sleep. I appreciate that the property was trying to rectify an error not of their own making, but that townhouse was not ready for guests and we should not have been offered it until their furnishings and fittings were complete. BYO fan, I guess.

HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND. Don't come here if you want a good time and what you payed for. We paid for 3 queen beds + 1 king bed. All we got was a room with 2 double beds + 1 single bed and an argument with a wall-faced staff member. We talked to a staff member onsite and she tried to tell us we did not need more beds and would fit perfectly in what they gave us. Mate it's not about if we fit or not. We're paying customers and thereby entitled to what we payed for. We tried to explain this to her and she had the nerve to try get us to pay $235NZ for an extra room with 1 queen bed + 1 single bed. We paid for a certain amount of beds and didn't get it and she wanted us to pay even more to still not receive the service. She tried to tell us we told them we only had 1 person staying on our booking form so we showed her our booking confirmation which clearly stated our guest number to be exactly how many people we brought. We even tried to suggest a compromise where they simply bring in an extra mattress. She refused our suggestion and kept trying to push us to pay for an extra room. She deflected all our requests to speak to another staff member, insisting that the manager shared her views. At this point she simply went back to her room despite our attempts to reason. We ended up having to BUILD a bed with two diagonally placed sofas. Upon further inspection of the rooms, we found that the showers were not very clean with spots of mould on the sides and some of the bedroom lights refused to switch on. Furthermore, one of the bedroom heaters did not function. Attached are some photos of the lights and heater. The photos of the beds with are for size reference only - taken in the morning after sleeping.

Perfectly situated with everything you need and more. Children’s area and bbq out front. Spacious warm rooms. Bed was super comfy. Mark at reception was lovely giving us tips on where to go and was very nice to us when we were stressed trying to leave with twin babies. Much appreciated. So much nicer than an air b n b where you have to tip toe around and leave it spotless even though you pay a cleaning fee. Here they clean it every day if you would like that and the hot tub was delightful. We will be coming back.

A brilliant team who looked at my special request associated with my wife’s limited mobility and looking for a view and we were upgraded to a perfect room with porch and bed views. Such considerate hosts. The room, although a little dated, was comfortable and had everything we needed. The extra large bed gave us a perfect sleep and when I had mastered the air-con we also had a room at the correct temperature. Recommend for short stays.

This is a very comfortable place to stay and a great location for a good price. We had a nice deck off our room and it was an easy walk into town. There is a hot tub (though it needed cleaning) and a large communal kitchen with a fridge and cooktop which was perfect since we had an early start up Roy's Peak and needed place to store our food for the hike. The only negative - there is no staff on site and we only had a glimpse of someone who probably worked there. It feels more like an Airbnb. You need more towels? You have to call. Any questions about Wanaka etc, no one is there. Overall, it just felt a little strange.

Nice comfortable unit. Balcony with table to sit and enjoy view of mountains. Great spot to watch the cloud sit on the mountains. Able to cook in kitchen. A little tired I guess but fully functional and comfortable. Warm and cosy. Walking distance to town. Great food caravans across the road.

It seems to be the best hotel in the area with a lake view. Wanaka is across the road. There is one living room and three bedrooms, one of which is a suite. The other two rooms share a shower room and toilet. There is a very spacious balcony and free parking. The kitchen is fully equipped and very clean. The old lady at the front desk is very kind and friendly. There is a small swimming pool on the first floor, with a hot tub.

The room is very clean, the location is also very good, it is very convenient to go to the supermarket and shopping, it is also very close to the lake for a walk, that is, the boss is not very good, we do not know where to park, he seems to be very unhappy

We were looking for a good 2 bedroom self catering cottage or apartment and were pretty staggered by the high prices for a five day stay in early March 2024. Eventually we found the Clearbrook Motel online and were pleased to snap up a two bedroom apartment because it had everything we wanted and offered more bang for our buck than alternatives we'd seen elsewhere. Having our own clothes washer and dryer was also very welcome. Price was not cheap but for this town it was very good value for money. Location is excellent with shops, restaurants and lake within 100 - 200 metres and we had a lovely view from our living room over a babbling brook and even snow capped mountains. Reception staff and cleaning staff were extremely nice, respectful and helpful.