The Sands Hotel Hokianga

Looking at other reviews, i beli Pros: - The location is stunning, with beautiful views of the harbour and sand dunes. -The on-site restaurant served a great dinner. - The beds were very comfortable. - All the staff we interacted with were genuinely lovely and helpful. Cons: - Unfortunately, the rooms we stayed in were in need of significant maintenance. We booked a two-bedroom unit, which was in poor shape — the bathroom light was missing a bulb and thick with dust, the kitchen had maybe been renoed but left with patchwork floor tiling, and the front and back doors had issues with their locks. The back patio paneling had also been partially removed, though this was acknowledged and apologised for at check-in and didn’t affect our use. - There is a refurbishment programme underway. On arrival, there were builders smoking right outside our front door, which wasn’t a great welcome. The next morning, construction began on the unit directly next to ours (shared wall) at 8:30am. The banging was loud enough to shake the walls, and the workers were outside our back door talking and smoking. We had to ask them to move away from the unit. We called reception and were kindly moved to two connecting rooms on the other side of the property, but the issues continued — both rooms were dark due to the lack of central ceiling lighting(the rooms only have bed side lamps and low lux wall sconces in the bedroom and patio area), one had a cracked bathroom sink, there was unfinished painting on the walls, and a broken privacy door. - During room servicing, we asked for clean glasses and were told they didn’t have any — the cleaner advised they just rinse the used glasses in the bathroom sink, which was disappointing and unhygienic. The plan had been to book a room where we could relax during the day on the beachfront, as there isn’t much to do in the surrounding area. However, the condition of the rooms and the ongoing construction made that difficult. While the room layouts, beach front location, and staff are lovely and have great potential, the property is simply not at a standard that justifies being marketed as a 4-star hotel. At present, the rooms we stayed in are more in line with a basic motel experience. Until meaningful upgrades and maintenance are completed, I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending it as a hotel stay.

The Unit we stayed had just been decorated, was done on the real cheap, bad workmanship prevailed in other units also redecorated. Owing to the location I believe it is very difficult to find good help and it shows. Some of the others had to relocate as their rooms were sub-par. However, the Staff were great, helpful and eager to please, the food was excellent, great views, the place was clean and tidy. In summery it was an uncomfortable room to stay in, bad lighting, nowhere to sit, one chair, but the bed was comfortable.

Great stay at The Sands Top choice for Omapere/Opononi stay. Large establishment with beachfront and courtyard units. We appreciated being upgraded to the Beachfront. Idyllic sitting in our patio area enjoying the seaview. Nice Bar and Restaurant with a deck to enjoy the good weather and sunsets. Plenty of free parking. Helpful staff

Great location and views. Friendly staff.

Excellent services