Maruia Springs Thermal Resort

We booked a two night stay at Maruia springs for a quiet, romantic getaway. I am amazed at some of the negative comments here, especially from some of the people who have only ever placed one comment, and it is negative. Nothing nice to say? Say nothing at all is my motto. Our experience was exactly what we wanted. We were not scabby with getting the cheapest room in the joint – we opted for the ‘eco package’ which saved us some money on the better quality rooms. Room was very nice, quite spacious and the heating worked very well. We noticed there was a wall heater in the bedroom, another in the bathroom and a spare small fan heater in the wardrobe – needless to say we were not cold. Our room was soooo quiet; we did not hear a peep from anyone or any other room. The whether was dreadful – we knew it was going to be prior to booking the night before, but we still did. Snow to ground was predicted and true to form, it did, in amongst unrelenting rain and a very cold snap of about 2 degrees… This made for a very cosy and romantic 2 nights and days in, doing a whole lot of nothing… exactly what we signed up for. There is no TV. There is no radio. Internet is unreliable as it is satellite as is the phone… This is clearly on their website. The hot pools are at the demands of the environment and the elements and out of the control of the operators – we found them very nice during our stay, the outside one was very hot and we could not stay in too long. The indoor one was perfect and quiet. Dinner at the restaurant was great. Both nights they had a constant flow of tables and the service was great. We ordered the hot pot – was great. We stuffed ourselves the first night, determined to finish it – the broth was something else. Was so good that we had it the next night too but were not quite able to finish it this time. I can not imagine someone who goes to a Japanese restaurant and orders Lamb Shanks – can someone explain that to me? We have been to the springs before and we noticed that the restaurant and the rooms have been done up – very nice, neat and tidy. Oh – one very bad mishap – ordered a Panini in the Café the first day and I was forgotten… Once they realized their mistake, the apologized, corrected it quickly and offered both my wife and I two free coffees, gratis… We declined as the apology was heartfelt, genuine and was all that was required really. All-in-all, a wonderful getaway and was everything that we were expecting and wanted. We will return and we do recommend to many travelers who want a genuine experience.