Booking Hotels in New Zealand.

After the plane tickets, the budget for accommodation is the second most important of your New Zealand trip. Kiwipal is here to help you to book your stay all by yourself to save money.

Because booking a holiday without a travel agency saves you from paying additional fees for a service so easy that you can do it yourself on the Internet.

You can choose between any kind of accommodations while being still able to change your mind in New Zealand depending of the weather. This a great advantage and this can sometimes save your holidays!

And because you have the chance to book without intermediate, I recommend you to vary the pleasures and not always retain the same type of accommodation for your entire stay. Alternating hotel nights, bed and breakfast or motel is entirely possible, and I'll explain the pros and cons of each solution.

We will especially see how to book accommodation online! If you follow my instructions to the letter, you can expect to reduce the overall price of the stay, very significantly. But let's take each subject in order, and let's start with a presentation of each accommodation solution in New Zealand.

Please note that some areas of New Zealand does not offer sufficient hotel capacity to accommodate all the tourists at the hotel. Depending on your itinerary, you will sometimes have to rely on motels or bed and breakfast.

Some motels and even B&B can be more expensive than hotels, as the price depends first on the quality of the service and the location.

But don't worry, we'll talk about the budget a little further.

The hotel is the most popular accommodation in New Zealand for tourists, and you will probably spend most of your nights in an establishment of this type.

The quality of New Zealand’s hotels is evaluated with the Qualmark index which is similar to the star-rating system used all over the world. I recommend you to book only hotels with at least a two-star rating. Please also note that a five-star rating is not a privilege restricted to palace hotels!

The hotels budget rooms can be booked for $85, but the real comfort is rather around $135 per night for a couple, or even $300 for a premium hotel room. Of course, I leave aside the ostentatious luxury at $2000 per night, that is not going to interest the Kiwipal's readers ...

Recommended for family holidays, the motels are fully equipped apartments where one can cook or use a washing machine. Quality is variable, and if a few low-end motels match the poor image conveyed by the American TV series, there are also (and mostly) motels where one would imagine to live all the year!

The motel is not necessarily cheaper than an hotel room, but it allows to save money by cooking family meals like at home instead of eating at the restaurant. If you plan to spend several days in the same place, a motel is probably the best accommodation solution with a good value for your money.

The Bed & Breakfast is primarily intended for childless couples seeking a double room in a guesthouse. As the name suggests, the service includes breakfast (continental or English) cooked by a host that also provides expert advice on the activities of the region.

The beds & breakfasts are very popular in New Zealand because they offer the opportunity to meet local people. This hosting solution is ideal if you are looking for authenticity, but not recommended if you are not the kind of people who enjoy talking during the breakfast (sometimes you must share the table with other travelers from all over the world).

The Lodge can be seen as an enhanced version of the B & B, with the most elegant mansions and a refined hospitality. Unsurprisingly, the prices are revised upwards, but if you have the means, I recommend sleeping at least once in a Lodge for the quality of the welcome and the service.

Only a pole and a tent can be cheaper than a youth hostel (also known as “ backpackers ”).

This spartan solution can be useful for travelers with a tight budget, but nights in dormitories are not so nice if you really need a good night’s sleep. You are often awake early in the morning because of travelers who pack their affairs without discretion.

The Backpackers are not targeting exclusively young people, and you can spend a night in an establishment run by one of the two major chains of the country (YHA or BBH) even if you are over fifty years old.

However, you can book private rooms to avoid sleeping in a dormitory, but the price is equivalent to the one you would have paid for a cheap hotel, and you lose the main interest which is to facilitate the contact between travelers of all horizons.

Because even if the New Zealand restaurants are reasonably priced (especially outside the big cities), kiwis are early-birds and most restaurants close at 9 pm.

The sandwich composed with sweet sauces and eaten in your car on the road is certainly delicious, but it should not be the basis of your diet for several weeks. In these circumstances, I recommend varying accommodation solutions to include some nights in motels to cook and eat healthy meals.

It is easy to go shopping at the supermarket to buy ingredients to cook healthy family meals. There are even organic products and the weekend's markets deserve a visit y if you want to meet some locals.

The motel also allows to use a washing machine, which means fewer heavy cases to carry all along your journey because you can afford to take fewer clothes.

You initiate a virtuous cycle, because your luggage weighs less in the trunk of the car, and a lighter car means less fuel consumption.

However, it is the traditional hotel (especially when it is well located) that offers the best value for money. You can only book cheap hotels to save money, because it is not necessary to stay downtown at any cost. However, I recommend you to choose a more comfortable hotel when visiting a major city.

Because a hotel in the Auckland CBD or Wellington is like a base camp you can use several times a day to have a quick nap or to dress-up before going to dinner at a fancy restaurant in the evening.

The Bed and breakfast facilitate the contact with the local population. New Zealanders who are nicknamed “Kiwis” are incredibly friendly and smiling people. I often say that if you visit New Zealand primarily for its landscapes, it is more likely the kindness of the Kiwis that you will remember the most at your return.

Unlike the hotels that often serve the same breakfast again ad again, the Beds and Breakfast serve delicious homemade food. Nothing in common with the breakfast tinkered at the back of a car, with supermarkets' croissants. One should always start a vacation day with a good breakfast, served by a charming host who gives advice on the region.

Finally, there is also the possibility to sleep in youth hostels. A solution I recommend for students in search of new friends for an evening or for life. One should not consider booking backpackers only for comfort or to save money, but mostly for the atmosphere.

The rise of travel guides like Kiwipal, the multiplication of tourism portals such as Trip Advisor and the emergence of major travel sites like booking.com have revoked the monopoly of the outdated travel agencies.

Almost no-one uses the services of a travel agency to organize a weekend abroad. It should be the same in the near future for New Zealand. Only the fear of novelty still prevents some travelers to book directly online.

Yet there is no reason to hesitate because the booking of multiple hotel nights can be done easily on the Internet. As a traveler you have everything to gain if you adopt the modernity, because you'll save money and yet benefit from a tailor-made trip far superior to what you would get with an intermediary.

Kiwipal recommends you to book your accommodations with his partner booking.com. This booking portal, available in French, offers a multitude of advantages and is far superior and more economic than any travel agency.

We offer a search engine that only suggests quality hotels in New Zealand. We filtered have the accommodation deals on booking.com by budget category and comfort.

You book your accommodation without intermediary, and you avoid the travel agency fees. Logically, you will pay less and take full control of your customized trip.

Far from being a chore, booking hotel nights is rather amusing. You choose hotels, motels or B & B that really appeal to you.

A much more interesting solution than allowing a complete stranger (who knows nothing about your personal tastes) to choose for you. But the best is yet to come!

With booking.com, you can book without paying, which allows you to cancel free of charge up to 24 hours in advance for the majority of bookings. This will give you the opportunity to change your mind, including during the stay: if the weather is bad, you can cancel a night and seek the sun elsewhere.

During all of my trips, I usually replace one or two nights according to weather forecasts.

I remain so in control of my route and do not have to suffer the rain by remaining locked in a hotel room!

Such flexibility can sometimes save your holidays. Because you book online without paying immediately, you don't even need to ask for a refund when you cancel! Booking or cancellations can be performed with a few clicks by the Internet without having to justify yourself!

Budget Hotel does not mean low quality, and we have not retained the hotels with bad service or bad reviews. Our selection consists mainly of hotels, motels and cheap backpackers, which are located on the periphery or near a city center or a tourist area.

You can rely on a budget per night between $75 and $150 for a couple. A price that rarely includes breakfast which will be charged separately.

Special offers are numerous. Whether booking at the last minute or far in advance, you have good chances to find superior quality rooms at an unbeatable price.

A selection of accommodations well located, with more charm, more comfort and a better service.

The average price is between $150 and $230 per night for a couple, which is reasonable. A selection which contains hotels, motels, beds & breakfast but no youth hostels.

In this category also, promotions are common. Sometimes you can find rooms usually proposed at a double price but sold off few weeks in advance!

If you can afford to spend between $225 and $380 per night for a couple, here's a selection of high-quality accommodation (mainly hotels and lodges) that should suit you, especially if you are planning your honeymoon. Even for this category, one can hope to find good deals, and it is sometimes possible to book luxury rooms without breaking the bank.

The savings can allow you to extend the length of your stay or plan more activities on site. Even a journey that seemed impossible suddenly becomes possible! At Kiwipal, we make the decision to recommend our partner booking.com, for several reasons:

You do not need to juggle with multiple booking sites: it only takes a few evenings or a weekend to book the entire stay. Furthermore, you may very well change your mind before the start, and replace one hotel by another if your itinerary evolves in the meantime. A flexibility that finally frees you from the shackles imposed by the travel agencies since decades.

This is mostly the free cancellation offered by booking.com that should motivate you to book your holiday by yourself! Having the possibility to replace a hotel by another is a tremendous advantage that can save your holidays if the weather is bad and if you still have time to change your plans.

According to your itinerary, I advise you to vary the quality of your accommodation. It is useless to book a luxury hotel for just a stopover on the road between two major steps..

However, it is better to rent a better hotel when you visit a large city. Comfort is also to book according to your activities: a lodge equipped with a spa will be most appreciated after a long hike like the Tongariro Crossingrather than after a visit of Wellington's museums.

Keep in mind that you are going to visit a country with an Anglo-Saxon culture. The car is a major part of the Kiwi lifestyle. It is not essential to search for accommodations in every city center or close to the tourist areas. Being few kilometers away from downtown allows to get more reasonable rates or a better comfort for the same price, which is also interesting.

To avoid incidental expenses, always check if the accommodation has a free parking or if it charged as an extra. Because if you collect parking fees during all your trip, your budget will increase. You should only book hotels offering parking, unless you get a very interesting discount.

Finally, please remember that Kiwipal provides free guides about car and motorhome rental, just in case you would hesitate between these two transport modes. Meanwhile, I leave you with our friend Ben who answers any questions about accommodation in New Zealand.