Name: Whistling Frog Cafe & Accommodation
Address: 9 Rewcastle Rd, Chaslands 9586, New Zealand, Owaka, Owaka, Owaka, 9586, New Zealand
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Heating

Express check-in/check-out

Garden

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Linens

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Laundry

Concierge services

Services and amenities

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Kettle

Meals

Internet

Spanish

English

French

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Bike rental

Billiards

Hiking

Picnic area

Fishing

Recreation

Parking

Free Parking on Premises

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Cycling

Sports

Children's playground

Kids

Pets allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Whistling Frog Cafe & Accommodation

Owaka

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

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

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

As noted by others there are clearly many issues at the whistling frog.  
I’d like to say that the room we were in around the back nearby the communal kitchen, was clean, well appointed and generous in size. The bed was comfortable and the shower hot. 
The communal kitchen however was disgusting. There was wasn’t a cupboard or drawer that wasn’t covered in mouse poo. I can’t understand how this can be allowed to occur. Looking at the photos posted on their web site and looking around the environs today it’s clear the old frog has seen better days.

Seen better days

I would not recommend this place; we were given a map of the place and general instructions of where to go.  We found our unit to be dingy and everything looked tired, worn and dirty; it even felt dirty.  The bedding looked messy and unclean.  To make it worse, the weather became cold and the place was freezing; they had one useless heater on the wall, which was cracked and would've been unsafe to use.  I used to have one of these heaters and they only just take the chill off; they're not great for heating up a large area, and they take ages to heat up.  We slept in our clothes (including thermals) and neither of us got much sleep at all; couldn't wait to get out of there.  

We found the communal kitchen and were hoping to warm up our food, but we found they only had mini ovens and they were disgusting!  Looked like they'd never been cleaned.

DO NOT STAY HERE,

Unpleasant stay!

I gave 2 stars for the location.
0 for cleanliness  we asked on 3 occasions  when the cleaners would do the kitchen and showers. It wasn't till the 3 day a young girl was doing the kitchen, it still looked the same after. Dirty smelly clothe etc will  not go again

Awful

The room was clean and tidy functional for our needs and close to a kitchen area with full cooking equipment and tables. The restaurant had a full menu, and was good quality, so maybe has changed hands together with daily specials. I agree not the cheapest but a quiet location and was near places we wanted to visit in The Caitlins so fitted the bill for us. Certainly not worth the negative comments!

Suited our Needs!

The restaurant is not nearly as good as it used to be, expect burgers, fries & pizza (& poor pizza flavour range AND dont use the pizza oven!). Prior to COVID it used to offer a small menu of very good dining but no longer. We used to love to go here for an overnight stay but wont bother again as disappointing.

Very disappointing

This accommodation has a captive market and as a result, I found it to be overpriced. Maybe that is to do with the fairly remote location. Everything from the food to coffee to the accommodation was marked up considerably compared to other places. I would describe it as a Holiday Park, not a Resort. However... It is 2 star and I guess meets that standard. Our motel was a bit dark, with little sun. The room was okay, but nothing special, no bedside tables, brown towels, dull furnishings. The restaurant food was tasty for hungry travellers, but pizza cost $34 and seemed to be a "dolled up" supermarket pizza. The chicken burger patty was probably out of a freezer box. As I said to start, overpriced for what it was, but a handy location near McLean Falls and Cathedral Cave. 

Boardwalk motel studio

We arrive to staff in puffer jackets as there is no heating on. The "lodge" was a row of tiny rooms with minimal amenity. Marked linen, thin towels, unsafe column heater. The bar and restuarant was uninviting, unheated and menu was basically fries. No one at reception at 9am in the morning or any breakfast offered. At $220 per night gor a couple appalling value and would not recommend.

Would not recommend

Oh my goodness, where to start? Overpriced, falsely advertised, disgusting lack of cleanliness...

Location five stars! Rooms zero. Service zero, as there was none.

We paid to stay two nights as the website has it as the Place To Stay... so much to do!! As a result we planned to be here to hang out for a couple of days, like a little stop and rest. However, there was no-one here. The cafe was shut (even though the website ensured us they were open though winter from 8am, and the signs on the road said OPEN OPEN OPEN), there was no pizza starting from 3pm, again, website totally misleading, and the young Indian lady we managed to find after an hour of waiting told us to go back in because "he will be back in a few minutes so you can order pizza", there was DEFINITELY no happy hour starting at 4.30, although we were tempted to start our own. The outdoor tables had mould growing in rings on them. I say HAD because I couldn't cope with it and cleaned them all.
We paid for a powered site, and for that there was a "Guest Lounge." The guest lounge not only a broken pane of glass, but half of it was missing and there was rain soaking the curtains and carpet. So where do visitors hang out? Certainly not at the bar and cafe, that was shut. The waste bin in the kitchen had not been emptied for a very long time, ditto the bathroom.
We definitely didn't stay the two nights. We drove out the next morning to find food and somewhere better to stay. We found some other awesome places in the Catlins, cheaper and with friendly faces to check us in.
I need to add that the one guy we met - the manager - is doing his best in an untennable position. He was sent in to placate us when we complained by phone about there being no one here, no food, no coffee, no service. He is the only person working and the owners are not employing anyone on his days off. (His days off being the two days we had booked, hence no service and nothing open. ) They are simply not employing enough people to run a cafe, restaurant, wipe down tables, take in furniture out of the rain, clean cabins, clean bathrooms, empty bins, fix broken windows...  They simply don't care enough about this place.
This is a real shame. I have read (and heard by word of mouth) of an amazing place in the Catlins called The Whistling Frog. It's a real shame because that reputation will not last the winter. The new owners - as of four months ago - will try to make a quick buck off the reputation hard won by the last owners, who clearly built up a really thriving business here - and then it will die as travellers will find out how disappointing it is.
I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Going downhill fast.

The toilets were not cleaned and one was stuffed with toilet paper. Bins for rubbish were full. Communal tv area still had bottles and beer cans from previous night. Shower water was only just warm enough and no way of adjusting the temperature. Left by 8.30am the next day, no one around to comment to.


Uncared for.

Disappointing experience,overcharged,not terribly clean and negligible food.
There is plenty of other affordable accommodation in the catlins
A beautiful area to explore
Isolated and picturesque..



Whistling Frog Cafe & Accommodation

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