What could have been a good experience was RUINED by the host’s behaviour!
Zoe has a beautiful & clean loft, great interiors. Bed is at best queen size so not the most comfortable for 2. They don’t provide breakfast (nor claim to) however given the location you would be required to buy something in advance unless you want to travel a distance 1st thing in the morning.
The host Zoe had weird trust issues. We got stuck in terrible weather driving down from Franz Joseph. What started off as a message that sounded concerned soon turned in to a series of sarcastic taunts. Unfortunately when we left we never anticipated it taking us that long & getting stuck hence never dropped a msg. Around 7 pm when we finally got some network on the phone we let Zoe know of our condition (bad weather, road blocks, zero network), confirming we would at best be able to reach by 9:30 pm (which eventually only delayed further due to road blocks).
Rather than being sympathetic our host decided to respond by saying “West coast is clear today, it’s very strange you’ve been delayed” - this is when Wanaka is approx 300 kms away. Followed by “Just want to make sure you understand that despite your late arrival tonight we do need you to have checked out by 10 am at the very latest” - That’s when not once did we request for a late checkout
And when we actually parked on the side to finish the conversation we were told “We are concerned about your lack of communication and your bad weather impeding your arrival. If you’re actually driving down west coast your phone reception is incredible. There is no reception for most of the drive you’re doing”
Exhausted and hungry this unwelcoming behaviour was the last thing we craved for. I would have understood this anger if we overstayed however not being able to check in by 7 would trigger such a reaction was unbelievable.
I’m hoping the host was having a bad day & wish her well.