First, the good news. This is a handsome cottage, well designed and beautifully set on the farm. The mountains views are incredible. The horses and ponies are a delight to see and visit. Vanessa was good enough to leave us a roll-a-way bed so all three of our sons could have his own bed. The beds were comfortable and the sheets were clean and crisp. Plenty of hot water and good pressure in the shower--and nice little bottles of shampoo, etc. The cottage is quiet and private. We loved being out of town. The kitchen, though small, was adequate enough for us to cook dinner for our family of five.
This listing showed so well on AirBnb that we decided (like a previous reviewer) to splurge on it-- our most expensive AirBnB house in six weeks of touring NZ. We even rearranged our itinerary to book its available dates. Given the listing photos we expected a more expansive view of Franz Joesph Glacier, but I guess the glacier has retreated, since the view was different. On a clear day the top section of the glacier is perfectly in view and, in the end, it wasn't a big issue for us, especially given how beautiful and comprehensive the views are from the cottage. But if you think you will have an incredible, expansive view of the glacier itself, you will be mistaken.
We found the blankets and bedspreads to be very dusty and in need of cleaning. Also, there was litter under the beds from previous guests. There was a lot of dust under the beds as well. The place needs a good freshening up. While the cottage was expensive, we did find its price in line with similar properties in the town, but we think its value was compromised by the lack of careful cleaning as well as its need to be generally updated. If these criteria can be met, it would be a good value--and we would have been happy, rather than disappointed, to stay there.
I will note that this is the first critical review we've had to give after staying at over twenty-five AirBnb houses.