Ora° Retreat Aroha Nest En-Suite Mountain Retreat

More backpackers than retreat — just without the backpacker price. Positive: The View. Negative: We arrived genuinely wondering whether we had come to the right place. The entrance was full of rubbish and building/work materials, and after navigating our way through it all to reception, there was nobody there. Once we eventually found someone, the introduction was impressively brief. Luckily, we could see the funny side of our little “find”. The biggest mystery of our stay was where exactly the word “retreat” came from. Apparently a Buddha shrine and a few yoga mats are doing quite a lot of heavy lifting here. In reality, this felt much more like a backpackers — unfortunately without the backpacker price tag. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a backpackers! The younger versions of us would probably have loved the whole setup if we had paid accordingly and, more importantly, known what we were booking. The bathroom came with its own special features: mould on the wall, a rather memorable musty smell and shower glass apparently being encouraged to remain in place with tape. (Water pressure was great though) The hallways and walkways were cluttered. Apparently there are spa facilities available for a fairly substantial additional charge. I can't comment on those because, by that stage, our preferred wellness activity was leaving the property. Looking back at the Booking.com photos, we suspect many may have been taken around the newer-looking cabin, which did look lovely from the outside. Unfortunately, they didn't feel representative of the accommodation we actually experienced. The frustrating part is that there was a hotel very close by for a similar price. We chose this place because “retreat” sounded rather nice. So perhaps the simplest review is this: if you're a backpackers, embrace being a backpackers. There's a market for that. Just don't add the word “retreat”, photograph the prettiest corner and charge accordingly. We arrived expecting a retreat. We left having successfully retreated.

Excelentes anfitriones Positive: La amabilidad de los anfitriones Negative: Que no supimos el concepto del lugar hasta arribar

Positive: Les bonnes ondes qui émanent de cette maison sont très appréciables.

Alojamiento práctico y agradable Positive: Cómodo y cálido. La ducha era muy agradable. El anfitrión era muy servicial y amable.

Positive: I loved absolutely EVERYTHING! the location was just WOW, waking up in front of the snow capped mountains and the beautiful lake.. unreal! It was so peaceful like it really forced you to slow down and take it easy. Cari & Paul were wonderful hosts, so thoughtful and always treating us like they were really opening their home to us. MUST stay here <3 Negative: Nothing everything was amazing