Name: The Clendon
Address: 12 James Clendon Place, 0272 Russell, New Zealand, Okiato, Okiato, Okiato, 0272, New Zealand
Rating: 9

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

Garden

Terrace

General

Non-smoking rooms

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Ironing

Laundry

Services and amenities

Common kitchen

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation (complimentary)

Transfer

Barbecue grill(s)

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Fax and copy machine

Business

Massage

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the guest house

Kerikeri Airport

Whangarei Airport

The Clendon

Okiato

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

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king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

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6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We spent 3 days at The Clendon whilst visitng the Bay of Islands and Russell.
Lovely quiet and peaceful acommodation with good facilities and lovely gardens for the evening. Lovely that we were encouraged to bring our own wine and drinks to enjoy at the Clendon, which we did using the lovely bar and outside furniture and facilities.

Unique Residence.

Had thought I'd booked a place right in Russell, more my fault but Booking.com site wasn't clear on the face of it, so arriving very late at night and finding it was 8km away was a "surprise", silly me :-) Having said that, we were, in the end, very happy with the choice as it is nice to be away from Russell at night and The Clendon is a lovely lodge overlooking a bay and the couple managing it could not have been nicer or more helpful. Rooms were nice (and large), all with water views, large common areas, good breakfast and only 8km driver to Russell and 1km to the car ferry. A happy mistake.

All round an excellent lodge

This property is in a gorgeous location. The rooms overlook a beautiful beach. Our room was very spacious with a separate lounge area. The room was beautifully furnished and the bed was comfortable and warm. It is about ten minutes' drive to Russell from where this property is located and there are two lovely beaches within easy walking distance. 
 The isolation is wonderful but The Clendon only did breakfast until 9.00am. We were on holiday so wanted a later breakfast. That meant that we had to actually go into Russell each morning, which wasn't a problem, but there are no shops and no restaurants close by .

Stunning location and awesome views

we only stayed the one night at this beautiful location, and could easily have stayed 3-4. Although outside of the main town, the location is quiet and serene with stunning views across the estuary. The communal kitchen and dinning room give you plenty of opportunity to meet fellow travellers, and the staff were really helpful. Looking forward to staying here again.

Incredibly well equipped and spacious accommodation with lovely estuary views.

The 8th hotel of our trip.

The easiest way to get to Russell is via the short ferry from Opua. They run every 15 minutes, no booking required and it costs NZ$13 each way. It’s a short crossing. The Clendon is a short drive from the ferry towards Russell. It’s on the right. Our sat nav took us to the entrance. Check in was friendly and efficient. Plenty of parking.

Apartment 5/5. We had room 4, a sea view apartment. A large bedroom and seating area with fine sea views. You are quite high and the views over the trees to the sea is delightful. Large balcony with 2 chairs. Fridge, TV, tea/coffee, iron and board, and there’s plenty of storage space. Good aircon. The seating area and balcony catches the afternoon sun. Everything was clean and well maintained. Large and comfortable bed - we slept well. The sun sets in front of you, which is a real bonus on the east coast.

Bathroom 4/5. Perhaps little bit dated, but in good condition and very clean and tidy. Full size bath with shower over. Could do with a lock on the door.

Breakfast 5/5. Lots of choices. Fruits, cereals, breads and a cooked menu. We had an excellent full cooked breakfast - set us up for the day.

Location 5/5. It overlooks the sea and is close to the ferry point. It’s an 8km drive in the other direction to the centre of Russell for shops, bars, restaurants etc. Russell is a lovely village with a nice pier and a gentle atmosphere. We had dinner at The Gables in Russell.

Other - 5/5. There’s a pleasant communal lounge with great sea views and an honesty bar. There’s a huge communal kitchen with everything you could ever need if you want to self cater.

Overall 5/5. The normal host Vivian, was leaving when we arrived, for a few days break as she had worked every day for months through the peak season without a day off. The remaining staff coped very well and we felt well looked after. We loved it here and would have liked to have stayed longer.

Really lovely place

As you can see - the vista at this place is amazing - a view up Veronica Channel and over towards Paihia from reasonably high up on Okiata point - you can look out from the comfort of an easy chair - or while having dinner, surrounded by the beautifully manicured lawn and garden. Its pretty dramatic!
We have stayed at Clendon before and so were in for few surprises - but it is unusual.  Set up as a hotel in the 1980s, it is now run more as a motel with a sumptuous breakfast - not cheap.  What you pay for is the site, a comfortable room which is remade each day and amazing service from the few staff who are in attendance, who will bend over backwards to help you. There are in fact only 4 staff members working 2 full time equivalents as far as I could work out so it might be described almost as 'skeleton staffing' .  They may be hard to find when you arrive.
My issue with the Clendon is that if you were staying for more than just a night or 2 as we were, you would not necessarily be wanting to dine out every night - in either Russell or Paihia, and so the cooking facilities become important.  There is a 'commercial kitchen' which is not now accessible to guests due to Health & Safety regulations (mystifying!) and the other 'kitchenette' is only ok for very casual dining with a primitive oven and hob surviving from the '80s.  If you wanted to cook for more than just the 2 of you, you might struggle - why not modernize the cooking facilities at very little cost?  Similarly the BBQs are old style flat top burners and the one we had access to was faulty.
The rooms themselves are quite adequate - but again lack of modernization of aircon, fans and bathroom accessories is a bit of an issue. There is no Sky so don't go there to watch the Blackcaps or Lydia Ko.  You probably won't be there in winter so rugby is not a problem.
I understand the owner has the Clendon on the market but is in no hurry to sell - I suppose with the caveat that  he covers costs with the revenue from accommodation, which is ostensibly only 4 months a year.  But it seems a shame to spoil a good thing by foregoing a few relatively inexpensive items.  Our stay for 8 nights for 3 in the same room - $2842

 

Wonderful location - great holiday

We arrived expecting a wonderful getaway at a boutique hotel, stating no children and no dogs. No one was at reception, and when someone did arrive we were eventually booked in but 3 other couples/families weren't, They were either double booked or didn't have the reservations, even though the guests had booking confirmation. Dogs barked and babies cried all night ??? and in the morning we had dog poop on our patio??? They have no staff and the one we met (manager?) sat around drinking at night moaning about the state of the place.. Everything is overpriced and outdated, electric sockets didnt work, and there was no hot water and there were no lights in the shared lounge at night. There are much better places in Russell, and better rates. don't waste your money here.

Dont waste your money

Based on my experience, don’t risk booking at The Clendon as they may not honour the booking.  They might also not repay your deposit.  In January, I booked a 3 night stay for mid-February on The Clendon website.  We were looking for a special place to completely relax after a hectic few weeks.  But on the day of our intended arrival, as we drove from Auckland to Russell, the manager called advising me that they were overbooked and wouldn’t be able to accommodate us (for any of the 3 nights).  From what I was told, this was not the first time this had happened.  I was quite taken aback as I had booked direct with them and they had taken a 25 % deposit.  I was also feeling quite stressed as I knew that Russell was heavily booked.  They did offer to help find other accommodation for us and put us in contact with the local information office who found us somewhere to stay for the 3 nights.  But it was a much more budget option - half the size, no air-conditioning, no breakfast etc – so we did not get our special break.  To cap things off, more than a month later The Clendon has still not repaid our deposit and not responded to emails seeking compensation for our ruined break.   It appears they don’t care about their customers and aren't acting in good faith.  I wouldn’t deal with them.

The Clendon

Main amenities of the guest house

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the guest house

What other amenities are there?

General

Rooms

Accessibility

Services and amenities

Meals

Internet

Transfer

Recreation

Parking

Pool and beach

Business

Beauty and wellness

Pets

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment