TLDR; not the stay or experience we had hoped for. Great potential but let down by customer service.
Our stay was meant to be for 2 nights over the weekend dated 17th and 18th July, which coincided with an intense weather event (severe wind and heavy rain). This prevented us from flying from Wellington to Nelson, and even if we could have made it there was no way we could have driven down as multiple slips and flooding closed roads. I had called up to say that we were very unlikely to be able to make it, and would there be the possibility of a refund for the first night of the stay, partial or otherwise. Lady on the phone gave a curt answer that she is not a manager and that she cannot make the decision, as well as AirBnB's cancellation policy being a factor (true, this booking would only refund cleaning fee given short notice). This is an understandable answer, but the delivery was lacking in customer service. An expression of sympathy for the predicament and an acknowledgement that there are big safety concerns with travelling to Hanmer by car/South Island by air on that day that make the situation unfortunate would have done wonders. This humanising gesture can soften unpalatable news. Instead I was told, "the weather is outside of our control." It wasn't exactly in our control either. There was also a suggestion that we could drive down the East Coast from Blenheim, but it wasn't certain if we could truly fly into that airport and then get a car from there. And again, lack of acknowledgement of safety concerns for such a venture. This is not good etiquette. We managed to get there for the Sunday night on 18th July after flying into Nelson and roads had opened up by then. Check in with lockbox went fine but we were greeted by two single beds. The listing described it as a "king split bed" and had a photo of a made up large bed. My understanding was that the bed could be made up as a king or split into twin beds, but that surely confirmation would have been sought as to what type of arrangement was required if there was any doubt. Office was closed by this time so there was no point in calling the number about it, so we just pushed the beds together. Solves the problem but still a weird sight to come into as a couple, after no query about what type of bed set up we wanted. Kitchenette option was good for re-heating our dinner, so this is handy if you're not wanting to eat out for every meal. The listing did say this was a fully serviced room, which included bedmaking and cleaning after our stay. The studio also had a sign in it that said the studio is fully serviced at the end of our stay, so the cleaning will be done by the host/company. I have a photo of this sign and screen shots of the listing. But the studio came with a compendium for Hanmer Holiday Homes that talked about finding a cleaning kit, with instructions to clean the space, sort out rubbish, etc, to prepare the space for the next guest. This seemed to be a generic book that would be left in holiday homes which require this arrangement. But despite the listing and the sign saying the studio was serviced, the included booklet created anxiety and confusion for me. I didn't want to be in trouble for not following the book, but there had been indication that it was fully serviced. This sort of discrepancy can be unsettling for guests. The book had good information in it about the area, but it would be best if it was customised/changed for the studios that are serviced. Bathroom floor was sticky to walk on. Other than on Saturday the 17th July, communication via messaging on the AirBnB app was good, in that questions were answered promptly and informatively. Location of the place is good as it's an easy drive or a nice walk to the pools/village centre. Beautiful setting on the grounds. Ordinarily the value for money (considering it's Hanmer) would have been good, but due to missing out on that first night this was not so much the case for us. Out of the host's control, but also out of ours and ultimately if there had been a better delivery about the refund situation it would have been fine.