My partners family and I stayed for 2 nights at Barbs cottage and really loved it! The cottage is completely self contained with lots of room, good facilities (washing machines are a big plus when travelling!) a nice back garden and lots of small additions (like board games, DVDs and toys for small kids) to help make anyone feel at home. It was lovely and quiet at night and provided a great mountain backdrop for views. The beds were comfy and lots of additional bedding/heating was available and should you choose to visit during winter I'm sure you will be very cosy. The shower was one of the best we used on the trip, plenty of hot water and powerful too. Its a short 20-30min drive into Franz Joseph for any glacier activities and only 5 minutes away from Whataroa where you can access a small cafe/ grocery store for food. Barb allowed us to check in whenever we arrived and left us plenty of information to help make our visit run smoothly. Overall the cottage was exactly what we wanted and we all thoroughly recommend staying here!