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Reviews of Blue Dolphin Motel

3.5 out of 5
Blue Dolphin Motel
40 Evans Street, Timaru

Reviews

8.0

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 41 out of 131 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 56 out of 131 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 23 out of 131 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 7 out of 131 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 4 out of 131 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Suzanne

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice, clean, easy parking, easy walk into town. I would recommend this place.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

8/10 Good

Simon

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Clean tidy and easy to find.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice clean room and upstairs and downstairs bedroom. Was very nice to stay here.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2024
Response from dorothy on Mar 27, 2024
Thanks glad you enjoyed your stay

8/10 Good

Lee

Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024
Response from dorothy on Mar 27, 2024
Thanks.

10/10 Excellent

R

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from dorothy on Mar 27, 2024
thanks glad you enjoyed your stay..

8/10 Good

Ian, Christchurch

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Clean & Tidy, Staff helpful, easy walk to town, restaurants, Beach. would recommend it to anyone visiting Timaru.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2024
Response from dorothy on Mar 27, 2024
Glad you enjoyed your stay

10/10 Excellent

Joe

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
great
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from dorothy on Mar 27, 2024
Thanks for the great score

10/10 Excellent

Peter W

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kimmy

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We love staying here! Its our third time now and they never disappoint!! Will definitely be back!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Room comfort
Room not as advertised
Room was tired and old but clean. However, it was not as advertised. We booked a 1 bedroom suite with 1 double bed and 2 twin beds, but the room comes with 1 double bed, 1 twin bed, and 1 super old fashioned sofa bed with super thin mattress. When questioned, the owner blamed the previous owner for the wrong information put up on the Hotels.com. She was pretty rude about it too. Shower needs time to adjust to the comfortable temperature as it spikes hot and cold as you adjust the valves. Definitely not recommended. Book with caution.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

6/10 Okay

Deryck

Travelled with family
Mediocre at best
This was our last stop in a larger trip. It is a dark and dated room. Walking in reminded me of a student flat. Pros - Plenty of towels to be found under the sink in the bathroom - nice big table with plenty of chairs to sit and eat like a family (there were 5 of us) Cons - Pillows felt like cheap $10 warehouse ones. No one had a good nights sleep - Access to the toilet is through a bedroom so either the parents or kids are getting woken for midnight toilet runs. - Bathroom lock was a sliding bolt on the inside that the outside can't get to. If some falls and hurts themselves or miss/master 4 lock it and can't unlock it....yes well. - Downstairs bedroom had nowhere to hang anything. No wardrobe, hooks, nothing
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

2/10 Terrible

Matt&Ash

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Richard

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
This is an older property, but very well kept and stocked. It was clean, had good kitchenette that was well stocked with dishes, tableware and pots and pans. My only complaint is they have long term guests that were a little rowdy. The were setting off fireworks for a short period of time and I found that disturbing. Also they could use a new mattress as it was rather saggy. For a two room unit it was certainly worth the price.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023
Response from dorothy on Nov 25, 2023
We do not have long term guests. All bed have been replaced in this room.

6/10 Okay

Patrina

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
I found the room very loud. You could hear the water going through the pipes in bedrooms next door everytime they used the taps or flushed the toilets. So this kept us awake 1/2 the night
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Luther

Liked: Cleanliness
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Leanne

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Immaculately clean, but very dated - looks like something from the 1970s! I also found there was a lot of noise coming from the laundry room next door to my room (room 5) VERY early in the morning. The people were very welcoming, and parking was easy onsite - right in front of my room. Everything worked well, with acceptable hot water and plenty of room. This would be ideal for a group with kids to stay, assuming they don't mind how aged the rooms are. I would stay again.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2023
Response from dorothy on Nov 25, 2023
Yes it is one of the older motels, we are slowly doing upgrades but we only have the lease of the motel.

10/10 Excellent

Sandra

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Good location for walking to Caroline Bay. Bakery across road, and short drive to shops. Unit was spacious with new carpet and had separate lounge/dining to bedrooms
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Heather

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautifully clean, warm and comfy
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Hamish

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was comfortable
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Catherine

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Comfortable beds, cleanliness of rooms
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jim

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Good location but heavy road noise
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

8/10 Good

Christine

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Reception was very helpful and room was clean. Property needs an uplift. And even with double panel windows can hear traffic although dies down through night.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2023

8/10 Good

David

Liked: Cleanliness
Value for money.
One night in a comfy clean bed. Bedroom well placed away from road noise.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

6/10 Okay

Paul

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
Motel was fine - comfortable and clean. Furniture is from the 70's and could be updated - overall value for money.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2023

6/10 Okay

Vaishali

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Spacious one bedroom unit with a spare single bed in the living room. Has a Kitchenette, microwave and a mini fridge. Bathroom doesn’t have an exhaust fan and the door is a sliding loosely. Hand wash basin is inside the room rather than the bathroom. Rooms are not insulated so you can hear each and every sound from outside and around your room. Bedding was clean and comfortable though.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

8/10 Good

Philip

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Straightforward and good value
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Lyn

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely owner on arrival.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Response from dorothy on Nov 3, 2022
Thank you pleased you enjoyed your stay

8/10 Good

Murray

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The Blue Dolphin is a quaint residence right near the arterial route through Timaru; easy to get to. The new owners are progressively renovating the facility so it will be getting a facelift. Spacious, well priced & comfortable.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

6/10 Okay

Andrew

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness
The stairs are very steep to upstairs and the sky light in the top bedroom needs a curtain of some sorts as when it is getting light there is no way to keep the light out.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022
Response from dorothy on Apr 9, 2022
we have just taken over the lease of the motel so are slowly working on improving things. The stairways would be one thing that we would not be able to change. Thanks for your comments Dorothy and Mark

10/10 Excellent

Jonathan

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022
Response from dorothy on Apr 12, 2022
glad you enjoyed your stay regards Dorothy and Mark

6/10 Okay

Richard

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
There was quite a lot of traffic noise
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2022
Response from dorothy on Mar 15, 2022
The main road is State Highway 1

6/10 Okay

Kerry

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
The bed in main bedroom very hard & uncomfortable, but the upstairs double very comfy. For the price I think it would be fair to have unlimited wifi rather than 1gig then $2 per gig after.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2022
Response from dorothy on Apr 9, 2022
the wifi was not charged when renewed

10/10 Excellent

Christopher

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The rooms were large and the hosts were the best I have ever met.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Was a nice place my fault that i did not ask for a unit all on one level otherwise a good stay
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
We liked that it was clean and tidy and good for the kids. Comfie beds and warm. Hosts were lovely.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021
Response from Geoff on Aug 8, 2021
Thank you very much for your kind comments. It is always a pleasure to provide a comfortable, warm and homely environment for lovely respectful families such as yours and be able to add to an enjoyable holiday for you and your family. We wish a great 2021, safe travelling. Kind regards, Geoff and Dianne

10/10 Excellent

Angelene

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness
Nice to hang out for a couple of days.
Amazing stay, Very clean and everything we needed. The shower pressure was not good and had to wait ages to get the temperature right. Got the three kids to have showers at local Pool. The Queen size Bed was very hard. Otherwise a very good stay in the back apartments were the road noise was minimal.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2021
Response from Geoff on Jul 27, 2021
Hello Angelene, we humbly apologise for your shower experience. There are two other units on the same system so a lot of water being used by others! The motel unit you booked is our access unit and the bed needs to be firm for disabled folk to get in and out of! Thank you for your helpful comments,and we wish you safe travelling and a great 2021. kind regards, Geoff and Dianne

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Business traveller, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great communication on late arrival, place was warm and tidy
Stayed 1 night in May 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This motel was very easy to find, on the main road. It was very clean and tidy inside. Very good value for the price.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2021
Response from Geoff on Apr 29, 2021
Thank you Fiona for the lovely complements and we are glad to be able to provide for your families needs. Guests such as yourselves are a pleasure to accommodate. Welcome back any time. Wish there were more of you :-) Take care and have a safe and lovely 2021. Warm regards, Geoff and Dianne

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Close to aquatic centre and beach. Friendly and gave suggestions of activities.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2021
Response from Geoff on Jan 14, 2021
Thank you very much for your kindly comments. Happy to know we made your stay here worth while. Take care keep safe, and happy new year to you and your family. regards, Geoff and Dianne

10/10 Excellent

Tracey

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2021
Response from Geoff on Jan 14, 2021
Thank you Tracey for your very appreciative 10 out of 10. It is a pleasure to look after and accommodate lovely guests such as you and your family. Take care, keep safe and happy new year to you all. warm regards, Geoff and Dianne

10/10 Excellent

Cate, Christchurch

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We liked the Blue Dolphin and would definitely stay there again. Geoff and Dianne are lovely, friendly hosts and the place in nice and clean. Older style but we liked having a separate living area to the bedroom. Good price and nice and handy to everything.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2020

6/10 Okay

Allen, NZ

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness
Hosts were lovely and very accommodating but unfortunately our rooms heater was broken (small fan heater was provided), tv channels wouldn't work and place needs updated. Was clean and beds comfy. Kids loved the upstairs room.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2020
Response from Geoff on Jul 28, 2020
Thank you for your valuable feed back. Rang TV tech about channel but can't explain why not working, all of the others are, just with the nos. not as advertised, in the compendium. And just bad timing with our main heating having failed and not able to get repaired in time for your stay. We humbly apologise for both of the above. Heating has been fixed since. thanks again Regards, Geoff and Dianne

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2020
Response from Geoff on Jul 28, 2020
Your four out of five score is much appreciated, and gives us room for improvement. We hope your stay was a comfortable one and didn't detract in any way, from your overall holiday experience. We hope you return home safe and sound and have a great year, Kind regards, Geoff and Dianne

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities
The internet provided lasted us 20 minutes and then terminated due to GB usage. No AC. Bedding smelled.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Response from Geoff on Jan 25, 2020
It is a shame you never commented while staying, however, Wifi, it is advertised that each unit gets 1 free gig per day of stay, after - charges are discretionary. Professionally laundered sheets are provided for each new guest, very annoying when some guests sleep under covers instead of BETWEEN THE CLEAN FRESH SHEETS! Heating and cooling fans provided in each motel unit. Very sorry for your disappointing stay. Regards, Management

8/10 Good

Craig

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020
Response from Geoff on Jan 23, 2020
Thank you Craig for your positive review which helps us with our endeavour to keep delivering good service to our valued guests while in their time of holiday mode. Have a great 2020 and keep safe. Warm regards, Geoff and Dianne

10/10 Excellent

christopher

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great stay for a family.
Perfect location and size for our family of five. It's a bit dated but it had what we needed and the service was excellent. would recommend.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019
Response from Geoff on Dec 30, 2019
Thank you Christopher for your very kind comments. We are encouraged by your feed back and will strive to keep on delivering what our guests find most important. Our wish is for you and your family to have the best year yet in 2020. Warm regards, Geoff, Dianne and Piko.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019
Response from Geoff on Dec 30, 2019
Very sorry that we seemingly didn't give you our best guest experience. Very hard to reply to NO comments as we are not sure where we fell short. Had we known at the time we would have responded in the best way that we could. We do wish you a happy and contented 2020. Regards, Blue Dolphin management.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Staff & service
I probably wouldn't stay there again a bit disorganized and said i had free wifi then turned it off after 3.5 hours...they were friendly enough tho
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Geoff on Dec 30, 2019
Sorry to hear that you were unhappy and wouldn't stay or recommend us. We do state in our booking info, that we do have free Wifi, but with conditions! Every Unit booked by guests are given 1 free gig per day, which is plenty for most accommodation requirements, according to most guests. Apologies again and wish you and your family an exciting and prosperous New Year. Kind regards, Geoff and Dianne

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Needs abit of updating but overall comfortable and clean.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019
Response from Geoff on Aug 14, 2019
Thank you for your kind comments. We are ever mindful of the updating that this motel can do with. It remains a work in progress for us. Your comfort, and satisfied stay with us always paramount. Thank you again, have a great year and safe travelling. Kind regards, Geoff and Dianne

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2019
Response from Geoff on Aug 14, 2019
Hello guest, thank you for your kind appraisal of 4 out of 5. We are mindful of supplying a comfortable, warm, clean, home away from home environment for our guests, and hopefully we achieved that for you. Best wishes, and safe travelling. Kindest regards, Geoff and Dianne