Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort is situated on the picturesque shores of Lake Rotorua in quiet parklike surroundings only 3 mins from Rotorua Airport,and 10 mins to the famous geothermal attractions of Rotorua. This award winning resort hotel features luxurious accommodation with private balconies or courtyards with views to the lake; New Zealand's award winning fine dining Mokoia Restaurant specialising in indigenous herbs and spices which creates amazing taste sensations including a daily full vegetarian menu; superb personal service; relaxing Manary English lounge bar and the internationally acclaimed Wai Ora Day Spa featuring the World Luxury Spa Award winning "New Zealand Cultural Spa "regime based on the geothermal muds of Rotorua and wellness practices of the Maori. Rotorua's only World Luxury Spa Award winner. Enjoy the tranquility of the landscaped gardens and serene sounds of the meandering spring feed stream as you enjoy the hot and cold pools, steam room and sauna that make up the Wai Ora Spa Water Experience. The ideal Rotorua relaxation, spa, food taste sensations destination and accommodation base for all other Rotorua activities.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Family Resort
Lake View
Location
77 Robinson Avenue Holdens Bay, Rotorua 3010 New Zealand
I would have liked to rate it good but I cant Its a long way from town and literally in the middle of nowhere so it you don't have transport of don't want to drink and drive you are stuck unless you walk to McDonalds Facilities are ok BUT gardeners digging up trees all day on 6th Jan is not conducive to relaxation. They worked until well after 7 View of lake is good but people vaping below your room is not nice The staff were pleasant and helpful, they had to do everything from checking guests in etc. to waiting on tables in restaurant. Housekeeping quite spotty. There is FREE laundry Parking is ok Room quite nice on first night ate in on site restaurant which was very good If the weather had been better wopuld have been a great retreat to relax but it was poor so made you feel very isolated. It wasnt cheap.
Read more
Date of stay: January 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The pics of the hotel looked lovely (and it probably was when John Key officially opened it in 2008) so we were quite looking forward to arriving. Let's just say it's seen better days. Everything is a bit worn and it's not what comes to mind when you say "resort". If you're coming to/from the airport the location is good but not so good if you want to go into town and don't have a car. They asked if we wanted a queen/king or two single beds so we went with the one large one. This turned out to be two single beds pushed together with a sheet over the two beds. So no one was sleeping in the chasm in the middle. The minibar (fridge only - no snacks) was old and noisy when it turned off and on during the night. Black-out curtains were great. The pool was empty when we arrived and only just filled up the night before we left. If people are booking a hotel that advertises having a pool, it would be nice to be told before paying that the pool might not be available for a couple of days. It's not that the place is awful, it's just that I would expect to pay less for what it is.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Check the pool is available before booking
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed here for 2 nights, as part of a 2-week trip to NZ. Wai Ora is away from the center of town, but that’s a good thing. It is very quiet. VERY quiet. A 30-second walk from our room took us to the shore of Lake Rotorua where there are some good photo opportunities. The room itself was very clean and comfortable: great bed and wonderful linens. There was plenty of counter space in the bathroom.
Things we wish had gone better: the restaurant and bar are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We checked in on a Sunday, so we were able to get a table. The food was good, but the service was terrible. The same staff that was working the lobby area was also serving drinks and meals. We had to ask for menus after waiting for 30 min, and we only got our meal about an hour later when we asked where it was. Seems there was some confusion in the kitchen.
Of course this all meant we also didn’t get a breakfast at the hotel, but there is a wonderful The Coffee Club about 10 min down the road and on the way to just about anywhere you might be going. Great food and coffee.
Read more
Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The whole place was dirty - outdoor pool and ‘spa’ were filthy. The place has a real problem with flies and these covered the walls inside. There was a note in the room claiming this would happen if doors and windows were left open but even though we didn’t there were loads, making me think the room hadn’t been cleaned. They provide bug killing spray but then they fell off the walls onto our beds. I ended up cleaning them off the walls and ceiling so we could sleep without them falling on us. Considered sleeping in the car. Restaurant wasn’t open. Did get a full refund the next morning after initially being offered 50% back.
Would recommend staying literally anywhere else, it’s grim.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2023Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This resort is not as advertised, it is certainly being run poorly. Having a toddler, the pool and food/room service was a main attraction for us to have a relaxing break away. The pools were empty for maintenance our entire stay. Had we been informed prior we would have changed our flexible booking. The bathroom hasn't been getting cleaned properly - toilet bowl looked yuck, shower glass water stained, and yellow stains in the bottom of the spa bath. There was no bin in the kitchen, only a small one in the bathroom. The railing on the deck was covered in webs and bird poo. The exterior of a lot of the buildings was unclean with dust, bird poo and webs also. Breakfast was average- the eggs Benedict had no hollandaise sauce which put us off trying dinner (along with the dinner menu available compared to photos and description - don't match up) and there was no machine made coffee available that morning either. For our last night there was no hotwater in the evening and morning of checkout, so we had to have cold showers. No discount or refund was offered and barely an apology when I mentioned it. The spa treatment was beautiful, but due to miscommunication between staff I was waiting half an hour longer than the time I booked for. Overall our stay was very disappointing.
Read more
Date of stay: February 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Don’t be fooled by the false advertising! We booked a ‘spa room’ to find it is a room amongst their spa services area with no toilet, no tv, no fridge, tea and milk but no kettle, and the room was serviced by emptying the rubbish bin and replacing towels but did not make the bed or clean the floor (not carpet!). For $219 a night, it was an absolute ripoff as the rest of the resort is of similar poor quality. Disappointed. ☹️
Read more
Date of stay: January 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place was so bad, I attempted to report them to the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading marketing. Truly terrible. Based on my internet sleuthing, it appears that the “award-winning” spa and restaurant were under former management who encountered legal troubles and had to sell the company. New management is running a motel that is nothing like the luxury spa described on the website, which features old photos and references old awards and accolades received by former management. Filthy, poor service, facilities in utter disrepair that bear no resemblance to the spa that apparently won so many awards 15+ years ago. Not a “luxury” or even decent hotel experience. During our stay, another guest complained about a broken toilet seat. We were unable to contact staff via phone or in person. Pool facilities were not functional. Honestly, we were unclear whether our “room” (which was a converted massage room clearly intended to cram more guests into the motel) had even been cleaned. We literally barricaded our door with a chair because the place felt so sketchy.
I am not a person who typically writes bad reviews on the internet, as I have no desire to publicly take down a legitimate small business that is doing its best. But this place is a disaster, and the website is incredibly (potentially intentionally) misleading. Do not book.
Read more
Date of stay: December 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
First and foremost, the pool, the main attraction, was not ready. Reading another review, apparently its been down for months?
It does seem understaffed, everything is in rough shape.
One of the two spa pools had a Ph warning flashing, the sauna was in a rough shape and as said above, the main pool was not ready.
The room was okay, good AC and the shower pressure was great. However, the wifi might as well be nonexistent, I couldn't even watch extremely low quality youtube videos. The TV remote was missing batteries? When calling staff, nobody picked up, nor was the voice message met with a response. The remote was the only way we could turn up the volume, it might as well have been on mute.
This does feel like a harsh review, but its an honest one, and the room was not cheap. They have not kept up to today's standards. A resort is meant to entice someone into staying, but the lack of care, and untidy and just unfinished nature of all the facilities made it feel like daylight robbery.
We will not be staying here again.
Read more
Date of stay: January 2025Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The location was lovely. Showers hot and powerful but there were no shelves in the shower for toiletries and no towel rails to hang wet towels in the bathroom. Bed comfortable and clean, but that's were it all ends. Staff weren't very friendly and tried to pretend our room was unavailable on the first night and attempted to charge us more than double for a luxury suite. I presented all the correspondence relating to the booking and then suddenly the original room was available. Dirty glasses left in the room and toiletries not topped up after use. The final straw was an unauthorised charge on my credit card apparently for taking the Sky card from the Sky box which is a total nonsense. We never touched the Sky box at all. We are left with a feeling of being ripped off .
Read more
Date of stay: March 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:Do your homework thorughly and don't always rely on the grade from Booking.com
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Do not stay here. Absolutely disgusting. We went to check in and room was not ready so we went for a drive for a 3 hours Room was not ready until 5.30. Dirty Rundown Looked so nice on website Swimming pool was empty in the middle of summer, I suspect the pump was broken or such like. Restuarant was dirty. Food was average, expensive. Ordered 3 corona beers...got 2 cold and 1 warm. We paid $340 for one night. They asked me to pay $120 extra for my adult son to sleep on sofa bed. I refused. The only good thing was it was quiet. I work in hospitality and don't know how they get away with this
Read more
Date of stay: January 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Do not stay here
Dirty
Run down
Expensive
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Megan, Thank you for your inquiry.
On Sunday- 5.06.16, we have only one availability at the moment at 9am in the morning for either 1 hour miri miri massage ($135) or 1/2 hour miri miri massage ($85). However, our all spaces are getting filled out very quickly so please let me know ASAP.
You can ring on 073435100 to make a booking.
Thank you again.
Wai Ora Management
There are more places to choose from in the Rotorua area.
PRICE RANGE
$105 - $143 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
wai ora lakeside hotel, wai ora lakeside resort
LOCATION
New ZealandNorth IslandBay of Plenty RegionRotorua DistrictRotorua
NUMBER OF ROOMS
30
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.