The house & setting were as described, a lovely house in very beautiful "high country," & we enjoyed our stay. Samantha recommends stocking up on gas and food prior to arrival, since it's at least a 20 min drive to get both. I recommend you also research in detail what you'd like to do here, since there's no wifi at Castle Hill for researching, and there was no welcoming info in the house or visitor center nearby w/info about things to do/see. (We wanted info about trails.) We had a Lonely Planet tramping book but needed more detail. We'd driven several hours to get here and, after unpacking the car, had to drive another half hour of winding, mountain roads to arthur's pass (and back again) to access wifi and do our own research. We had a gorgeous hike on Bealey Spur--highly recommended.