Adventure Lodge and Motels and Tongariro Crossing Track Transport

It was nice and warm. Gill was friendly.

I booked this accommodation in December 2025 specifically because it advertised a communal kitchen. However, just two days before our stay (after payment had been taken), I was informed that guests could not use the kitchen because it had been allocated to ski staff living on-site. Given the ski staff had been staying there since July and our stay wasn't until the end of August, there was plenty of time to notify us and give us the opportunity to book elsewhere. I was also told before arrival that mountain transport would be available, but upon arrival was informed it wasn't operating that weekend. The property felt quite dated overall, and the spa water became greener each day. By the final day, it was so cloudy you couldn't see the bottom.

The location as it was close to the mountain.

The room was cold when we turned up. The towels were old and threadbare. The tv didn’t work properly and we couldn’t even get channel 1, it kept buffering then turning off. Wifi was non existent and when you did get it, it barely worked. We were given the staff wifi but it made no difference. The lady said the tv didn’t work because it was busy. After a day of skiing we asked to use the Spa, which was also a reason I booked. To find out it was broken. The mattress on top of the bed, were a weird foam topper that made you roll together in bed.

Great spot, the rooms (we had to book two to fit our family of 5 in) were clean and well stocked. Lovely, friendly, and helpful staff. I had mucked up our booking and left a night off, the staff were very helpful in getting up referred to a spot next door that had availability - beauty!

Nothing major we can think of.

The location is perfect (though, everything is within walking distance in the National Park village anyway). It's off main road so no road noise - great for us, noise-sensitive people. Nice system of no daily cleaning but extra supplies waiting for you at the door every day - love it. Super friendly host, helpful advice and welcoming. Thank you so much! Parking is right in front of the building and separated by the neat green bush. Tidy and toasty hot inside, the room has a mini fridge, a microwave, a toaster, and an electric kettle. Air fryers are available if you need, and you can also book a time in the shared kitchen for a more sophisticated cooking round.

The room's a bit tired and so is the shower. Wall-mounted shower heads are something I keep wondering about around NZ - why do they still exist.... The double bed had one leg broken and so one corner of the bed was sloping down. The room could do with thorough dusting (lamps, ceilings, curtains) and the bathroom would only win from 2-3 hooks on the walls/door. We had a room for 3 ppl but some bowls and cutlery were mostly for 2 ppl - not critical but would be an easy fix too.

“Had a great stay at Adventure Lodge! The place was clean, comfortable, and had everything we needed. The location was great, and the staff were friendly and welcoming. We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely recommend Adventure Lodge to anyone visiting the area. We’ll definitely come back!”

“The kitchen wasn’t available when we checked in, but the staff kindly offered us the office kitchen to use instead. It was a minor inconvenience, but we really appreciated them providing an alternative.”

We appreciated the late night check in and the heaters provided.

We found someone else’s hair on the bed and have taken photos. When showering the shower curtain will stick to you as you shower so it became extremely hard to shower. The fan doesn’t work well in the bathrooms and the bathroom ends up becoming extremely wet. Last minute the hosts advised us that we could not use the kitchen so we had no stove during our two days however when booking it was advised to us that we would have a kitchen so this really frustrated us as the nearest takeaways for a food is a drive away. Lastly, I’ve lost a pouch there and have asked the providers to look for this however they have said they couldn’t find anything and that if it was left in the sheets it would have went straight to the laundromat in Taupo and bags don’t have names on it which I found strange. Will definitely not be returning here.

Location

No views outside the room, no daily cleanups or top ups. Coffee sachets were all dried up, towels were old n yuck

Bra och rymliga rum, enkelt med parkering. Sköna sängar, närhet till Whakapapa.

Fick meddelande samma dag som incheckning att gästköket inte var tillgängligt. När vi kom fram visade det sig att gästköket under hela vinterperioden är uthyrd till skidpersonal. Det märkliga var att detta inte framgick när vi bokade trots att boendet var väl medvetna om detta. Personal ordnade så vi fick en kokplatta men det var svårt för våra familjer att kunna sitta och äta tillsammans. Jag hade velat ha informationen tidigare för då hade vi anpassat vår mat till möjligheterna.

The bathroom was quite small and dated. The wifi was very slow. The share common areas are rented to the ski school and we were discouraged from using it.

The staff were friendly and tried to be helpful.

Room was quite small.not spacious as expected

Clean/comfortable

Best location. We really enjoyed our stay here. Best experiences.

Nothing. Every thing was as expected. We really loved staying here.

I like the spa and pool

None

Room was warm and beds and pillows were really comfortable. Being able to use the Spa Pool was a bonus. Gillian (owner) was incredibly welcoming and knowledgeable about the area and couldn't do enought to make us feel welcome, which was much appreciated after a long day of driving.

Can't think of anything!

Very good location and nice, clean place. Very comfortable for a long weekend

The kitchen was close but provided an air fryer.

The room had all the facilities without a cupboard but had a clothes rack and didn't have cooking facility, but did have a microwave oven, a kettle, a coffee machine that did the job well.

Without a cupboard and ironing facility, it seems a bit awkward; otherwise, we could not expect much from this remote area

Great heating, very warm in the winter. Great location. Also it was comfy and clean.

no stove cooking top in the self contained unit.

Warm comfortable and Gillian the host was especially kind and generous. Offered a range of snow gear to use.

The milk type was UHT. Not the best in a hot drink.

Gillian da recepção muito atenciosa disposta a ajudar recomendando bons lugares. O hotel conta com bus ir para montanha 👏🏾👏🏾

Lovely, welcoming host. Clean and comfortable room with everything you need.

Room was cold on arrival and had a musty smell. Was very clean and dry though so could be a cleaning product smell.

Amazing motel and lodge located in Waimarino / National Park Village. I originally booked a double share in the lodge for a mid-May stay, but to my pleasant surprise during contactless check-in (minimal staff due to quiet season starting) I found that the owners had upgraded me to a studio unit! The room is extremely spacious and has all the basic necessities, including heaters for winter. While there is only a kitchenette (bar fridge, microwave, kettle, toaster) to make tea & coffee / heat up food, the lodge has an extremely well stocked kitchen for use. I later met and chatted a bit with Gillian. They normally run a shuttle for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and provide food services (breakfast, packed lunch) for the day of your hike (can book separately or together as a package with your stay) but had temporarily halted services due to low demand in the off season. Gillian also recommended a few things to do as I had an extra day in the area. An wonderful experience and highly recommended for anyone visiting Tongariro!

Petit lodge familiale très agréable pour un arrêt dans la région. Dommage qu’il faut passer par dehors pour aller à la cuisine. Les salles de bains sont très propres

La réception est mentionnée être ouverte jusqu’à 19h. Malheureusement à 18h30 elle était déjà fermée

Very helpful staff

We had an excellent time. A very comfortable and warm Foo. It was well equipped and spacious. The staff were very helpful regarding the hikes we had planned

I enjoyed my stay here. We got upgraded to a better room which was so lovely as this was the last stop of our 2 week trip around new zealand. We have had the hike with the shuttle planned but because of weather we had to cancel which worked fine, easy and quick cancelation. Room are clean and spacious. We could park right infront of our room. Great choice for sure

Amazing for hiking around there but there is a lot else to do in the area. But you dont go there for anything but hiking

The beds are like clouds, very close to the Tongariro National Park and they offer a shuttle right outside the accom.

They closed the office early so didn’t have access to spa but they offered us a spa after check out

We were only here for one night, but would highly recommend! The woman in the office when we checked in looked after us so well. The room was great, the beds were comfortable. It had great amenities. Great location for all the nature hikes and skiing. Great value for money.

Estaba muy limpio y el personal increíblemente amable

Es un establecimiento un tanto sencillo

Pros: soft comfortable beds, spotless bathrooms with great shower pressure, wonderful staff -- we had a fantastic Tongariro Crossing briefing and shuttle transfers from owner John "Dutchie" Visser, and a very friendly welcome and advice from his wife Gillian. Gear like leki poles, boots, packs and warm clothing available to borrow/hire from reception too. Great common room with sofas, a big TV and huge DVD library to peruse at reception. Schnapps Bar down the road was fun and lively after the big walk.

Cons: the lodge building is quite creaky so there's a fair bit of noise from people just walking around upstairs or in the corridor. Earplugs recommended, especially if you want to rest following your walk. There is an indoor spa pool (30min time slots must be booked with reception) but we found it quite heavily chlorinated (understandable given all the sweaty hikers) and thus too tough on the eyes.

Everything at Adventure Lodge is so thoughtfully put together. We were welcomed by Gillian upon check in and we had booked the freedom package with the transport to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track. Gillian and John really have thought of everything to make sure your trip is as good as it can be. From the packed lunches for the track, get up and go breakfast the morning of, taking care of transportation, to the spa after the hike, it was perfect. Looking at the weather, it looked like there might be better weather the second day we were there, but we needed to be in Rotorua by that evening. Their willingness to go above and beyond was astounding as they offer options to try to go on the potentially better weather day. We figured we would call it last minutes and see how the weather ended up (which ended up that we had excellent weather on the day we originally scheduled to go, so no changes were needed!). My husband also has allergies and they were VERY accommodating with him for the packed lunch and breakfast. The breakfast was an excellent start to the day and the lunch had plenty enough to get through the hike (just don't leave your sandwich in the fridge!) John was very knowledgeable during the drive over and honestly quite hilarious. He provided interesting facts and a great start to the day. We ended up finishing the hike in between two pick up times, so we did have to wait a bit. They partner with another company for the drop offs, so we were picked up by another company and they just announced for adventure lodge pick ups as well. The room was spacious, comfortable, and clean. I did wish there as a bit more light in the room. The walls could have been more sound proof, we could hear our neighbor's sneeze, but fortunately everyone was quiet at a reasonable time. Parking was available right outside our front door. The spa after the hike was lovely, and it was really nice that we could book a time so it was just us in the spa. Breakfast the morning after the hike was hearty. Honestly, there isn't much to eat in Waimariro and our best meals were at the lodge. Gillian, John, and their team really do a great job with providing easy, thoughtful, and convenient services for Tongariro. It was so nice to be able to book everything all through one place. I wouldn't highly recommend to come stay at Adventure Lodge if you are looking to do the Alpine Crossing.

Owners friendly informative Room very clean Shuttle service great and Dutchy provided good info on the shuttle ride

Friendly, helpful, easy option for Tongariro x-ing

Common kitchen

Nothing

L’emplacement et le calme

La réception fermée avant 15h (mais possibilité d’attendre dans le salon partagé si on arrive plus tôt)

Pragmatisch, günstig, sauber, freundliches Personal

Es ist sehr alt, es war ausserordentlich kalt.

Would definitely go back! So glad we stayed there.

Excellent place to stay . Gillian made us so welcome and John’s shuttle service to and from crossing was superb

Zentral gelegene Unterkunft

Mitarbeiter hätten etwas freundlicher sein können

Comfort clean and warm staffs

Small washroom limited laundry time

Gute Lage für das Tongariro Alpine Crossing, genügend Toiletten/Duschen pro Geschlecht, hilfsbereites Personal.

Zimmer war etwas muffig, vermutlich weil Teppichboden und sonstige Ausstattung schon etwas älter sind. Küche eher klein, hat bei uns aber gereicht, da nicht zu viel los war. Der Shuttle zum Alpine Crossing ist mit 70NZD pro Person etwas teuer aber ein Muss, um das Crossing machen zu können.

Dutchy and his wife were so friendly and helpful! The room was comfortable and the shuttle service for the Tongariro crossing was great

Ideal location for the Adrift Tongariro Crossing offices, good laundry facilities, lovely staff, large room. Kitchen facilities (didn’t use).

Not keen on having shower curtain instead of glass. Limited options for eating and food supplies (but that is really a factor of this wilder location.)

Znakomita lokalizacja do wycieczek po parku narodowym Tongariro. Pokój nieduży, ale wygodny. Wspólne łazienki i dobrze wyposażona wspólna kuchnia. Czysto, cicho.

Zgodnie z opisem .

Well equipped kitchen and cleaned. Shared bathroom and toilet were cleaned and tidy. Bedroom was cleaned and good size. Walking distance to restaurants, supermarket and petrol station.

Bed was too soft for my liking.

Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen were cleaned, well equipped & bedroom was comfortable. Filtered coffee was provided with other tea options. Staff were very friendly. Easy and quick check in and out. Motel is closed to restaurants, supermarket and petrol station, all with walking distance.

Bedroom wall was a bit thin.

Lovely owners that will always start conversation with you which makes you feel really welcome. Also, the shuttle service offered by them is absolutely recommended and at great value. We’ve really had a nice stay.

There could be a slightly better eye on cleanliness but that is spoken in a very high level. When I plugged in my phone charger behind the bedside table, there was quite a bit of dust. In general, the carpet floors are just not really easy to look after at a location like this where people go hiking.

La jeune fille a la réception est super Nous avons utilisé la buanderie => tout c est bien passé

Rien

Sehr sauber, freundliche Rezeption

Wir fanden im ganzen Haus kein Glas

Adventure lodge is a fabulous place to stay in the tongariro national park. We are so glad we picked it. On check in, we were kindly upgraded rooms and our room was spotless with everything we needed. It was cosy and perfect for us and felt very homely. When we were there the weather meant the crossing was cancelled but the owner was so kind and helpful in suggesting many other activities we could do including a fantastic alternative walk the tama lakes. Book this accomodation, it is great

Nothing

Het bubbelbad!

n.v.t.

Excellent staff, the owner allowed an early check-in based on the bus arrival time. Used their shuttle service for the crossing, they allowed options on best day based on late afternoon weather report.

We loved everything about this- Gillian and John were excellent hosts. Would so highly recommend getting the freedom pass as it includes an incredible packed lunch ( my husband said it was the sort a mum would pack) a breakfast on both mornings and the shuttle to and from the crossing. The jacuzzi we had on our return was so welcome and definitely helped with the achy legs. Definitely the place to go when you are doing the crossing!

Location was great. Usually you arrive at 2pm but it was 3pm check in. That was a bit putting off. Staff was very friendly even the talk on the way to the crossing was very informative.

Great guest kitchen with free coffee. Within walking distance to excellent restaurants. Super friendly staff. Nice hot tub. Convenient laundry facilities.

Had to go down stairs to shared washroom—but not a huge deal.

Sehr freundlich, alles da, was man braucht

die Betten sind schon seeehr durchgelegen

Location is great, loved the outdated skiresort vibe, people were nice, had everything we needed! Kitchen can get a bit busy but there was space for everyone. :)

Chill out area / livingroom could need some love as it's not very inviting to spend time there.

Very friendly hosts, clean and complete, quiet

Wir waren sehr zufrieden, die Betten waren wirklich sehr bequem und die Zimmer super geräumig und gemütlich. Wir haben die Küche genutzt und konnten problemlos den Shuttle nutzen um in den Nationalpark zu kommen. Das Personal war sehr freundlich und man konnte sich sogar Regenjacken, Mützen, Wanderstöcke etc. leihen.

Clean, great toiletries. Well equipped room. .

Acousitcs arent great. We could hear our neighbours. Could do with some net/sheer curtains for privacy so that we werent on display to everyone when in our room during the day.

Bien situé et organisé

Pourrait avoir un ventilateur pour la nuit car pas de clim

Good coffee and tea facilities and everything we required in the bathroom.

The bed was overly soft sagging in the middle and the mattress could do with replacing.

La cuisine, les canapés dans les espaces communs, la gentillesse de la jeune femme qui s’occupait de la réception !

Tolle Lage, nettes Personal

Eigentlich hat uns nichts gestört, es ist halt alles relativ einfach