It's a great place. Close to the beach (and walks, and cafe, and RSA for pub grub), but also secluded and invisible from the road. One of the taps wobbled a bit but was no inconvenience. Jude was a responsive and helpful host when we needed him, which was seldom. T
he house has all the charm of a classic kiwi holiday home, combined with enough mod cons to make life pleasant. Top quality espresso machine too, with grinder, packer, steam wand, double & single jiggers, the works, so make sure you take freshly roasted, unground beans with you.
During our winter stay we were treated to a classic west coast storm. Even though it impacted the broadband a bit, Jude's supplied a diversity of online access routes for his smart TV so we still managed to get through all the movies we wanted, and with the best hot chocolates this side of the Piha blow-hole.