The staff are great and very friendly in person, which was the highlight of the entire stay.

I felt misled by booking staff in the fact they told us the hotel was a five minute walk from town, which it very clearly isn't.

The rooms are disgustingly out-dated and the whole thing feels dirty. The heater didn't work properly and it was freezing!

I wouldn't actually recommend this place to kennel dogs let alone people.

We tried after arriving, to book into another hotel but unfortunately nothing else was available. If only I knew when booking 4 weeks ago, what I know now.

Unless you have low expectations, I would not recommend staying here!!!!

Stayed here for 3 nights from 25 December 2006. Clean through out, friendly reception staff, well placed being just 10 minutes walk from town, plenty of car parking. Good views over the lake.Hotel is in need of a freshen up and a lick of paint. It is on the main road so can be a little noisy. A good average Hotel in a major town but we did stay in some super Hotels/Motels in other parts of the South Island which had spoilt us a bit.

This hotel has now dropped 'Terraces' from it's title. It is about a 10 minute walk from the town and a bit longer back as we had to stop to admire the views(it's up a steep hill!) It is 10 minutes from the airport but get the shuttle($13 for two) as the taxi has a hefty pickup surcharge($26 for two). All rooms have a beautiful view of the lake and the Remarkables (apart from the ones on the ground floor that are obscured by a hedge). Our room was large with a sofa bed, not plush but more than adequate and, at this time of year the best thing was the electric blanket. Lovely! Try the restaurant in the hotel, we had breakfasts and evening meals and they were all excellent. The staff were very friendly and helpful. As time was short we booked our trip to Milford Sound at Reception and got a much better price than if we had pre-booked on the internet, they also booked the shuttle back to the airport.

We loved the view from our room and we voted this the best Kingsgate hotel in NZ in light of this aspect. We liked the way the car park(though diabolical to drive out of) was so accessible.
The best thing about the hotel was that the staff were so friendly and helpful (Jennifer had great advice for things to do)& also they allowed us to check in early, having 1 member of our party unwell at the time. I recommend the staff at K ingsgate Rotorua take some lessons.
It is best to have a car when you are staying at this hotel, though the walk into town is a pleasant 15 minutes.