Christine’s place is wonderful!! If you want the main point of this review right now, here it is: Stay here! You will love it!
If you’re looking for more details:
The room is amazing. Large enough to accommodate both our big suitcases without making them a trip-and-fall hazard, comfy bed, heater and electric blanket to enable utter coziness, private bathroom, sweet deck space, beautiful views. Kitchen use was totally easy; we never felt we were in the way or like cooking wasn’t really ok (which my wife has felt at times in other places).
It should be mentioned that there are a LOT of stairs in this house and in the surrounding neighborhood. That’s the only reason I can’t think of for not staying with Christine (i.e., if you can’t do stairs). The location of the house is fantastic for exploring Wellington—it would just take longer to get to the CBD, for example, if stairs aren’t an option. If they are, though, you would be hard-pressed to find more charming short-cuts than the many staircases around Kelburn (our beloved “secret staircases” of San Francisco not withstanding!).
What seals the deal and makes Christine’s place so exceptional, however, is Christine herself and her husband John. The two of them are kind, open, funny, and effortlessly manage to both engage guests and give them their privacy when necessary. We feel absolutely honored to have stayed in their home and will do so again any time we’re lucky enough to be in Wellington.