I booked to stay at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort Solway Park Wairarapa through wotif.com. I've been travelling quite extensively of late and have been able to check into some great places at a reduced price. Sadly this place was a major disappointment.

Next time, in addition to paying more attention to whether the rating on wotif is provided by an independent rating organisation or directly by the property, I'll also make sure to check the reviews on TripAdvisor. This property "self-rated" as a 4 star facility and it's hard pressed to rank as 2 star in my opinion. Here's why:

A group of friends had arranged to meet at the Solway following a play at one of the local theatres. One of the group had phoned ahead to advise a member of staff that we'd be showing up for coffees and desserts (at a minimum) and that we should be there between 10:15 and 10:30 pm. There was no indication that this was going to be a problem.

When we arrived, we found both the restaurant and bar closed. When inquiring as to what happened to the individual who was expecting us, we met with some attitude for being late... which we weren't. OK, plan B. Let's head to my room and order room service!

Once in the room, we located the compendium which confirmed that indeed room service was available on a 24 hour basis. We then found the menu which was pertinent between the hours of 10 pm and 6:30 am and called the number stated. No answer. OK, maybe the staff are busy delivering to another room, we'll try again. A few minutes passed and still no answer. A few more, hmmm, let's check with reception instead.

The receptionist/night clerk was a little surprised that we were asking for room service, i.e. apparently there should have been some changes to the compendium to remove the reference to a night menu. However we were quite insistent that we needed food as some of us hadn't eaten since lunchtime. We picked a platter which seemed fairly straightforward and also ordered a couple of bowls of fries to try to stave off the hunger pangs. At this point, we were asked exactly what was supposed to be on the platter because there was no copy of the menu at the front desk. Huh? Then we were told that it would take a while as the friers would have to be restarted. What? How many 4 star restaurants in this world have their night clerk taking the order as well as cooking AND delivering food?

Kudos to the young man for at least having the initiative to deliver what we were asking for. Shame on you Solway management for putting him in that position. As such, here a few items you might want to consider:

1) Obviously you're struggling to fill the place as was evident by the billboard out on the roadside advertising the $99 per night room rate. This is quite interesting given that's what I paid through wotif yet your rack rates are posted as $225 per night. Perhaps if you kept your bar/restaurant open beyond 10:30 pm on a Friday night you might get a little more income. The group I was with would likely have spent around $250+ on food and drinks had we had the opportunity to order what we truly wanted instead of $75 worth of mini bar items and "room service".

2) People expect to be able to order food when they stay in a hotel that lists one of their features as "24 hour room service". If you don't want to have kitchen staff on hand overnight, then make the items easier to prepare. For example, instead of listing a bunch of fried foods, why not a fruit and cheese plate? Or something healthy like some veggies and dip? How hard is that?

3) If you really want to advertise yourself as a 4 star facility you need to maintain the physical facility. The bedspreads in the room I was staying in looked at least 15 years old (judging by the pattern of the fabric). The mini bar had leaked at some point and the carpet was both stained and faded in this area. As for the bathroom, well, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Stayed for one night in April and were booked to stay on our way back down the country but decided to cancel that one... The hotel clearly aims for the conference market and is probably fine for that sort of thing as it doesn't have much character. The refit of the public areas had sadly not stretched to leisure faclities (squash court was in a terrible state and the spa pool stank) or our room, which had an ageing motel feel to it. The room was dusty and stale and the bathroom was sorely in need of renovation. Thankfully we got a deal price, but even at this level it wasn't good value for money.

I stayed at the Copthorne in the "off season" and there was a lot of renovating of meeting rooms and hallways going on. There were very few guests in the hotel and it had a odd feel to it (remember "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson???).

Seriously though, it would be fine for a family vacation and it's in a very senic area with lots of food and shopping choices nearby.

It's a very nice hotel.