Family-run since 1998 · Taupō, New Zealand
Twenty-seven years of Kiwi hospitality, still answered by the family who started it.
Four Seasons Motel NZ is a second-generation, family-owned home base on the Thermal Explorer Highway — built and run by people who pick up the phone themselves, keep every unit spotless, and know the difference between a stopover and a stay.
From
$165
per night · seasonal rates apply
- TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice 2022 · 2023 · 2024
- Qualmark 4-Star Plus — every year since 2010
Chapter one · 1998
A motel bought with one phone, one ledger, and a family that answered every call.
Manish and Naina Patel arrived in Taupō in the spring of 1998 with two suitcases, two school-aged children, and a small loan secured against the family home. They bought a tired 14-unit motel on the Thermal Explorer Highway that had changed hands three times in five years. The previous owner's parting gift was a single paper guest register and a telephone that rarely rang.
Within twelve months the register was full. Within five years the Patels had added eight new units, retiled every bathroom by hand, and earned their first Qualmark audit. Within a decade they had hosted guests from sixty-three countries without ever closing for a season — not for a renovation, not for a refit, not even for the roadworks that shut the front lane for fourteen weeks in 2011.
The second generation, in their own words
Today the motel is run day-to-day by Priya Patel, the eldest daughter, who came back from a hospitality degree in Wellington in 2014 because, as she puts it, "the place raised me as much as we raised it." Her brother Arjun manages the maintenance team and the property's three free EV chargers. Their parents still live on-site, still take the early shift, and still answer the phone on weekends.
Twenty-seven years on, the ledger is digital, the phone is a smartphone, and the bookings come in from every continent. But the rule that has never changed is the one written on the inside cover of that first paper register, in Manish's careful handwriting: If a guest is in the room, the office is open.
We don't have a spa. We don't have a pool. What we have is the same thing we had in 1998 — twenty-two rooms that are properly clean, a family on the premises twenty-four hours a day, and a promise that if anything goes wrong with your stay, the person who fixes it shares a surname with the person who checked you in.
By the numbers
Twenty-seven years, independently audited, independently reviewed.
No chain affiliation. No paid placements. Every figure below comes from a third party — Qualmark, TripAdvisor, Google, Booking.com, or our own booking engine.
- Qualmark 4-Star Plus Independent audit passed every year since 2010
- TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice 2022 · 2023 · 2024
- Family-Owned Since 1998 Second-generation hands-on ownership
Guest voices
What recent travellers said — in their own words, unedited.
A wall of long-form praise from the four kinds of guests who book us most often: self-drive road-trippers, couples on a long weekend, families with teenagers, and the grey-nomad regulars who come back every year.
★★★★★
"We did a fourteen-day North Island loop and this was the cleanest, calmest stop of the whole trip."
Arjun helped us plan the next two days' driving when our original route was closed for roadworks — pulled up a map on the office printer and wrote out an alternative in pen. The unit had a full kitchen, the Wi-Fi actually worked (we tested it, 280 Mbps), and the beds were the kind you sink into. We extended by a night on the spot.
★★★★★
"A real motel, run by real people, in an age when most places feel like a template."
We came for a long weekend, no kids, no plan. Priya asked what we liked doing and booked us a dinner at a restaurant we would never have found on our own. The room was quiet, the shower pressure was excellent, and there was a folded note on the pillow that said "if you need anything, we are two doors down." That note made the stay.
★★★★★
"Two teenagers, a toddler, and us — and everyone slept. That's the review."
We booked a two-bedroom family unit for five nights. The kitchen saved us about $80 a day on dinners — we cooked breakfast every morning and ate in twice. The kids loved the smart TV and the free ultrafast Wi-Fi held up to four devices streaming at once. The EV charger was the clincher; we plugged in the BYD overnight and woke up to a full battery.
★★★★★
"Our seventh stay. We will be back for an eighth, ninth, and tenth."
We've been coming up from Palmerston North every February since 2017. Same week, same unit if it's free, same welcome. The Patel family remembers our names, asks after our dog (who is being looked after at home, thank you), and has never once increased the rate by more than the cost of living. That consistency is rarer than any five-star amenity.
Read all 1,940+ verified reviews on TripAdvisor, Google, and Booking.com.
Book direct · Best rate guaranteed
Stay with the family. Skip the middleman. Save the difference.
Book direct through our site and we beat any comparable online travel agency price by $5 per night, every night of your stay. Same rooms, same dates, same cancellation flexibility — just a fairer rate and a thank-you from the people who'll actually make your bed.
- Lowest direct rate, $5 below any OTA price
- Same-day confirmation before 8pm NZST
- Free ultrafast 300 Mbps Wi-Fi throughout your stay
- Free EV charging for Tesla, BYD and Type-2 vehicles
TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice 2022 · 2023 · 2024 Qualmark 4-Star Plus Family-owned since 1998