We loved our stay at the Alpine Lodge. It was mid-winter and it snowed heavily while we were there which closed the roads but we had all we needed there - plenty of firewood to keep us cosy, well set up kitchen, Netflix, heaps of room for our family of four (you could have easily slept eight). Tons to do in the area - Roundhill Skifield, Tekapo Springs for snow tubing/ice skating/hot pools, the dark sky sanctuary and observatory up Mt John and a bit further afield Aoraki Mt Cook and the Tasman Glacier. This house was an excellent base for all this! Jeremy was very friendly and communicative, responding quickly when we couldn't figure something out early in our stay. If you're travelling in winter, the road access to the house is up a private road which didn't seem to be cleared of snow as quickly or thoroughly as the council-maintained roads, so you'll definitely need 4WD or chains.