[Tim G]

Hi All,

We are expecting to land in Napier mid August and are starting to look at where to stay. We are thinking that a motel would probably be the best option for the first week at least.

Does anyone have any good recommendations?? Any good deals??

After that we will be looking to rent then buy in Taradale, mainly because of the good schools and proximity to my work.

Many Thanks,

Tim

[james the mechanic]

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay in Napier I can whole heartedly recommended …
http://www.bookabach.co.nz/cf_RentalSearch/dsp_listing.cfm?bachId=4277
It’s on Shakespeare Road on Bluff Hill, Napier, a ten minute walk to Marine Parade and the CBD and a fifteen minute walk to Ahuriri. There’s a small sandy beach literally at the end of the road (900m or less), the owners are really nice, the loft is very cozy, clean and cheap (they will give discounts for anything over a week). It is the sort of place we would have loved to know about when we came out on our recy. If you have kids it would sleep two adults and two kids with ease although there is bedding for more. It’s in a very central location tucked away off the main road, with its own private parking and barbeque area.

[Tim G]

Many thanks for that James.

Having somewhere booked to go to on arrival would be a great benefit. One small thing I did notice is the lack of cooker / kitchen? Maybe fish and chips all week, what an excuse!!!

Thanks again,

Tim.

[vitalogy]

Hi Tim,

We spent our first week in the Colonial (http://www.colonialmotel.co.nz/). It was fine, rooms have kitchen facilities etc.

Good luck with everything.

Alistair

[Red Devil]

Hi Tim

During our 'recce' trip in April we stayed at Pebble Beach (http://www.pebblebeach.co.nz/index.html) and can HIGHLY recommend the motel (rated #1 hotel from 27 reviews on Trip Advisor website)... the standard of accommodation is superb and the view overlooking the beach is wonderful!!!

If I've not convinced you enough, then you could do what we did and use the Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g255109-Napier_North_Island-Hotels.html) website to decide your accommodation... I've shortcut the link already to Napier hotels :nice1

Good luck and enjoy :D

[Tim G]

Thanks very much guys for your kind input.

Looked into Pebble Beach and asked for a quote. Have to agree it looks fantastic but at £500 per week it's going to be a bit steep.

Colonial Lodge Motel is going to give us a rate of $850 (£326) so at the moment I think we're going to go with them, although still have to follow up on a couple more.

Thanks again,

Tim.

[silvo]

Hi Tim

we also stayed at the colonial hotel - great place but not cheap, I didn't mind as the hospital paid - it was part of the relocation package.

We have stayed at the Lisa Rose motel - check out

http://farley.hosts.net.nz/~admin72/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=5

They have 2 bedroom units - there are 2 separate bed rooms 1 with double bed, 1 has 2 singles plus a sofa bed in the lounge/kitchen - has a cooker, fridge freezer and microwave. Not as spacious as the colonial so if you have heaps of stuff maybe the Lisa Rose would be a squeeze! If you stay more than a week they will negotiate the rates - (we got $65/day)

regards Neil

[femke]

Hi There

Try this site its quite good,http://www.travelbug.co.nz/search?region=Hawkes+Bay&district=&sd=13&sm=7&s-ymd=2008-07-13&fd=14&fm=7&f-ymd=2008-07-14&keywords=&commit.x=105&commit.y=23
Oh a little tip, haggle with them over the price, remember its winter here, so not high season. When we first arrived, we stayed at a self contained cottage, think they wanted about 140 night. We made a deal that if we stayed for 7nights we could get it for 100night, it worked for us.
Good Luck

Moira

[Tim G]

Thanks everyone.

I think we're going to book into the Colonial for the first week just to get settled.
We also found lots of other nice looking places however most of them didn't have any cooking facilities, only a microwave and with two kids it would make for hard work or expensive going out every day.

Now the next problem!! Finding a good rental....... The guys at Royston hospital are on the look out for me but if they are unsuccessful where is the best place to start looking?

One last Question... Car rental. We have planned to rent a station wagon from rent a dent for at least the first week. Is this the best option? Or is there any better?

Many, many thanks (again)

Tim, Michelle & Boys. Due on the 14th August.

[vitalogy]

Hi Tim,



Now the next problem!! Finding a good rental....... The guys at Royston hospital are on the look out for me but if they are unsuccessful where is the best place to start looking?


Depends if you want to rent privately or through an agent. Quite a few agents list rental properties on TradeMe.co.nz, so that should give you an idea of prices etc.

We found a place privately in the local newspaper (Hawke's Bay Today). I haven't looked recently to see if there are many properties available lately, and being winter it might be a bit quiet. It really depends on how quickly you need to find something.

The pros of using an agent would be that you can get yourself slightly more organised before arriving. If you contacted the main agencies in the area they could send you listing of available properties etc. The downside of using an agent is the extra hoops you have to jump through in terms of applications, getting references etc. If you only have limited time to find something to move into then this can be an issue.

Like I said, we found a place privately, with a very laid-back landlord who never bothered with references etc and really couldn't have been more helpful. Obviously, your mileage may vary.



One last Question... Car rental. We have planned to rent a station wagon from rent a dent for at least the first week. Is this the best option? Or is there any better?


No experience with rent-a-dent, but Metro (http://www.metrorentals.co.nz/) are also pretty reasonable if you want to compare.

Good luck :)

Alistair

[Tim G]

Hi Alistar,

Many thanks for your reply. As you say it may well be of benefit to us to wait until we get there and check out the papers, also don’t know how we would get references? Having just sold our own house after 10 years.

Don't suppose anyone has stayed at Fantasyland Motel in Hastings? They have just quoted us a very decent rate if staying 2 - 3 weeks although does state the cheaper rooms may be a little "dated"!!!!!!

Will also check out metro rentals now and see how they compare.

Thanks again.

Tim.