This is a historic hotel away from the touristy hub-bub of Wanaka. It has some interesting history which is posted around the grounds. Bathrooms are clean and updated. The beer garden is really pleasant with a firepit in the center. The bar/beer garden has some decent food, and excellent beer (the namesake beer on tap gets two thumbs up). The restaurant has excellent food. The rooms open onto the beer garden with a rose hedge privacy screen. There is a gift shop, laundry, and hot tub on the premises. The Cardrona Distillery is a three minute drive away. Great place to relax.

Wanaka is about a 30min drive, so if you want to be close by all the facilities there, this might not be the best choice (we preferred the quiet).

I was shocked how lovely my room was for the price - I had a couch in my room and a balcony that overlooked the garden. The staff is lovely and professional - the hot tub is cozy after a long hike or drive - and the food was excellent. It was nice to cozy up next to the fire in the morning with my Magic Mushrooms bfast. Would recommend as this place bursts with charm.

Just a note that if you are on the move, this place doesn't provide a fridge or any plates/cutlery if you want to fashion your own dinner. I had a chillier night so kept my refrigerated items in the car, but on a warm night, I would have had to toss it all.

Great location - quite close to Cardrona ski area and in the scenic valley. The room was very warm and pretty comfortable for three of us. It also was cleaned every day which is quite uncommon for NZ service. The kitchenette provided extra opportunities for heating/cooking some simple meals. Great bar/restaurant in the hotel (best Beef Wellington I ever tried). Proper wifi.

Well hard to find some significant downsides just some minor ones really…. There isn’t much to do apart from dining at the bar/restaurant. Hence probably it would have been great to have a telly with more channels (i understood the current one is to be replaced for the next season). Though unarguably the double tap system adds authenticity but it is not convenient.. I hope it at least helps save some water…. Other than that all was perfect!

It was an enjoyable stay.

Only one issue we had. We emailed in advance, informing them of our daughter being coeliac. We asked specifically asking if you catered for coeliacs. You replied you do cater for coeliacs and to inform the staff when ordering. The choices we had for her were chips or nachos, and the chips were not cooked in a separate fryer, so Nachos were the only choice she had. When we ordered our dinner, we asked at the bar if we could order French Toast for breakfast and we were told we could. When we came down for breakfast, the chef said they could not because the egg mixture does not soak into the bread.

Everything about this hotel is amazing. The staff are helpful and happy. Our room was perfect. We really enjoyed dinner. The soft shell crab, venison and goddess salad were superb. The garden is pretty and it was a treat to have a drink sitting in the garden at night when everyone had left. The final perfect ending to our stay was a superb breakfast. We saw the staff deal with people who frankly were rude and not very polite and the staff were kind and nice to them even when it was obvious the people needed to be told off. A wonderful place to stay and a piece of NZ history

We loved everything about it

The Cardrona hotel exceeded all my expectations. I had a.ways wanted to stay there and this year, I did! We are a senior couple but even so, the hotel was superb. I loved the vibes of it, the atmosphere and above all, the wonderful caring staff. the chef even made me a special meal one night when I had been travel sick. The room servicing each day was so efficient and above all very clean. Sparkling bathroom facilities in what was a very old part of the hotel. And excellent heating. We were very snug and warm. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough.. if you want a quirky, comfortable stay in historical South Island, this is it!

nothing to dislike!

We were surprised - we expected a small old-fashioned place, and we found a large, modernized, elegant amalgam of the original hotel with several additional buildings. (Probably we didn't read the reviews carefully.) Behind the buildings was a courtyard with lots of outdoor seating for the restaurant - including an outdoor fireplace, which we enjoyed. Very pretty. Loved the hot tub! Grateful for the laundry.

It wasn't easy to find where to check in, as there were counters and a bar in different rooms and alcoves. Some of the rooms (including ours) backed onto the courtyard, with a glass door and big window; no privacy curtains, so you had to either close the blackout curtains or be fully on show outside.

Restaurant/bar- We Loved how nice and cozy the restaurant was. Charming, lots of wonderful décor to enjoy. The fireplaces were warm and inviting! We loved how there was a candy station and marshmallows with skewers to roast on the fire, we purchased them instead of dessert, a fun activity and great way to end a wonderful meal. In the room-We appreciated the small details such as flowers on the bedside table, and a hot water bottle. Outside- Beautiful gardens at springtime. We were surprised and happy to find a hot tub it was lovely. Which was a perfect romantic relaxing addition for us as we were on our honeymoon.

Salad on the dinner menu-but otherwise no complaints!

Great accommodation. simple, small but what I expected in the hotel building. Having a room off the courtyard was great and easy to move in and out of during the afternoons and evenings when having meals or drinks. Location is somewhat remote, but i wanted to stay there. its a short and stunning drive to the Gibbston wineries and Arrowtown and close to Wanaka also. The restaurant is great, the pub is authentic and the food is great. Kids playground is a nice bonus.

Could do better with the body wash and not have sashes.

This was a really great find. We weren't expecting much in terms of service, given it's remote location, but we were pleasantly surprised. The property was lovely and the food was excellent. Our room backed onto the outside of the bar, and I was worried about noise, as they had music playing outside, but this went of at 9pm on the dot. There were also signs to say they didn't tolerate noise after 9pm, which we were really grateful for. The only thing I would mention was we were encouraged to book for dinner before we got there, but this wasn't really necessary as you can order at the bar. Actually, there were more choices of food at the bar, including basics like nachos, which were cheaper than the restaurant. Dinner was excellent tho, and the portions were big.