Name: Apartments on Upton
Address: 181–185 Upton Street, Wanaka, Wanaka, Wanaka, 9305, New Zealand
Rating: 8

Smoke-free property

Ticket assistance

Garden

Terrace

Reception desk

General

Non-smoking rooms

Rooms

Laundry

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Barbecue grill(s)

Hiking

Fishing

Barbeque

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Fax and copy machine

Business

Golf course

Sports

Skiing

Winter sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Extra decontamination measures

Contactless check-in and/or check-out

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the apartment

Queenstown Airport

Apartments on Upton

Wanaka

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1-bedroom

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

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wi-fi

kitchen

Very nice, modern, well equipped apartment. It was all very clean, king size bed was extremely comfortable. Ideal for us for a 2 night stay as we were able to do a bit of washing. Decent sized balcony with outdoor setting although wouldn't have used the barbeque.  Parking available right outside the front door. Location is pretty good if you don't mind a short walk into town. One of us found the walk a bit too far but had no problem getting a taxi home.  Would stay there again. 

Pretty good value for Wanaka

Please note this review is purely based on their strict cancellation policy.

Apartments on Upton has a strict 30 day cancellation policy with no flexibility. When I unfortunately had to cancel my reservation 3 weeks in advance due to an injury, I was informed that I could potentially receive a portion of a refund if the property is rebooked during my original stay, which is frustrating but understandable. What is not understandable is me checking online and noticing they had a technical issue so that NO reservations could possibly be made for the location leading up to my original reservation dates. I made the property aware of this technical issue and for the first few days they did not believe me, stating 'clearly we are taking reservations' and 'i do not know what you are suggesting.' When I finally sent a second round of screenshots and steps proving that no reservations could be made, and stating that this impacted any chance of me getting a refund while also preventing them from making any profit on new reservations, they only said 'sorry for the inconvenience.' 

Again, I recognize that it was my own unfortunate circumstances that caused a cancellation 10 days after their refund window closed, but it is incredibly frustrating that their technical issues prevented any sort of refund flexibility. There are many other places in Wanaka that have a better cancellation policy so I would be cautious of booking Apartments on Upton or any of their sister properties (Te Wanaka Lodge, Wanaka Selection Properties).

Be cautious of strict Cancellation Policy of +30 days out

So, we didn't *not* enjoy staying here, but there were pros and cons, I guess. We have tried to outline them below:
 
The pros:
- The location is pretty good, and is walking distance to the centre of the town
- The upstairs units have hill views
- The apartments themselves are top notch, with a luxurious feel and a full-sized kitchen and lounge in the larger units
 
The cons:
- The cleaning could have been better (there was enough dust to write my name in the spare room and at the back of the bedside tables in the main room. I think if you want confidence in where you stay, during these COVID times, then perhaps just an extra couple of minutes spent would have been worthwhile
- The washing machine was mouldy, so again, a bit of attention cleaning-wise would have resolved this as well
- We stayed for four days and never had a car park, so had to park on the street. Perhaps labelling them with unit numbers might help?
- A lot of the furniture was in very poor condition: it let the place down a lot because it was as if a rich person had built the apartments and then a poor student had furnished it (this is more of a management thing, I guess)
- Oddly, there was no soap or body wash for the shower (we had to go and buy some). Given that there was soap for the bathroom sink and dishwashing liquid for the kitchen (and flannels to wash with), it seemed strange that there were no soap products in the shower, again lending to the feel that it was being managed by broke students
- It would have been so wonderful to have more than one towel each (again, the broke students thing)
- It would have been nice if we could have had the apartment we asked for and told could be made available (better to under promise and over deliver than the opposite, even if we couldn't get into the apartment we wanted) - again, a management thing
 
I was a bit of an odd stay. Things seemed polar opposite - some things were super luxurious and other things just seemed cheap. Overall the apartments were beautiful, and of high quality. But one side of the property looks out over the toilets in the campground, and the management of the place seemed to let things down but dropping the quality of the stay down a notch or two. While it's really comfortable, I guess it's a difficult industry to be in at the moment, and perhaps they're looking to cut costs.


We didn't *not* enjoy staying here, and may consider it again

Comfortable stay with relaxing panorama views to mountains and Lake Wanaka. We stayed 3 nights in relaxed and plush 4 bedroom stay, each with ensuite shower & toilet. We will stay longer next time. Wanaka an easy 10 minute slow paced walk & plenty places to eat and relax. Patagonia single cone icecream a treat, 2 scoops an indulgence for a huge appetite.

Dungarvon -a place to return to

I stayed in a 1 bedroom apartment. The location is good being only 10 min walk from the main shopping area.  Apart from the normal fridge and microwave, this apartment had an oven and a washing machine with built in dryer.  The later is good if staying for longer periods.  It had a heat pump in the living room which effectively heated the room.  However, it couldn't be left on over night as the motor is outside the bedroom (however this might only be necessary if very cold).  There is a deck and BBQ which would be nice in summer. 

They don't service the units, even for my 9 day stay, which some might not like.  I would stay here again.

Convenient Apartments

We stayed in unit 5 and upon entering we’re totally satisfied with the modern design of the unit and building. Washer and dryer were available along with a large outdoor sitting area with barbecue. The unit was close to the lake and downtown area. 
Highly recommend.
The only items missing were barbecue utensils and a brush for cleaning.

Excellent, clean modernized apartment with great location

Booked a 3BR for 2 nights.  Good value for money, as it's slightly away from the bustling lake. Apartment is double storeys with 2 bathrooms / toilet. Everything looks pretty new and clean. Alas, Lake Wanaka was flooded at the time of our visit, so we didn't have the opportunity to tour around the area.  Mainly used it as a base to explore Queenstown.  Very near to Lavendar farm and Puzzling World.

Good value 3 bedroom apartment 

Very good location and quiet place , only 5 minutes to the lake.Parking in front of the door. Two bedroom apartment with living room and fully equipped kitchen. ( Washing machine, Dishwasher ).Beds are very comfy. Good WiFi 
Good value .

Formidable

We stayed here for 3 days for a wedding. From the tine we stepped in we were completely happy with our choice. The apartment was a little bit of luxury, the beds were so comfortable we felt we wanted to stay there! The showers are amazing - and I am very critical of showers.
The apartment has a fully equipped kitchen and laundry. The only down was only a couple of channels and a DVD player. But the we didn’t spend a lot of time there. Each apartment has an outdoor area with bbq and parking at the door.  Only a 5 min walk to centre bars/shops and supermarkets.

Fantastic apartment, nice luxury

Into the 3rd month of our 4 month trip we had already stayed in 14 different accommodations and all  but 1 other had been  great.  Apartment 1 on Upton  has been disappointing and we would NOT recommend. Not only because of the issues listed below, but also because of the noise coming from the apartment below.  There is an adjoining door and the sound travelled so loudly that we could often hear their noise above our TV.  Not great when your trying to relax or sleep.

Also be aware that despite the high cost of this apartment, there is only a street view with wagons and cars passing close by.

We arrived and collected the key from the nearby address which is a hotel reception and were told to make sure we place all the dishes in the dishwasher when we leave.

On arrival we could not find the dishwasher, nor for that matter the DVD player- only the remote, both advertised as being in the apartment on Booking.  We tried the various contact numbers but never managed too get an answer.  When we asked the cleaning staff they had no idea.   Eventually the DVD player was found in a remote cupboard without handles which we’d thought to be a display case.   A simple notice  on the wall or instructions in the manual would be a significant help. 

We were told wifi was available and the details we’re in the apartment but all they provided was a printed sheet in which they failed to add which network to choose – this is a $10 per day service, the first time we have had to pay for wifi in any accommodation in New Zealand.   However we did not know which network to attach to and nobody answered the calls on that either.

We drove back back to reception to sort these matters out the receptionist had the following answers:-

1. it was the fault of  Booking com  who advertised the dishwasher and dvd player not them! We pointed out that their agent was advertising things that were not provided and hence the business was responsible for making sure the details we booked were correct but no matter how we tried to explain this she could not understand.  

2. With regard to wifi,  the receptionist washed her hands of all responsibility  and was not even able to tell us which network to use. She told us that we should phone the numbers provided. We explained that we had but our calls were not respond to just like the hotel. She repeated that it was nothing to do with her and was of no further assistance.

3. When we asked why the telephone in the hotel had not been answered,  she stated that she had heard the phones but was too busy to answer and hence it was our problem!  We pointed out that they cannot shift their management problems onto us for lack of sufficient staff. She didn't understand this so we pointed out that this type of thinking was “off another planet”. This caused her to order us to leave the hotel.   We pointed out that its was late and we had nowhere to go and she offered us her wifi to find a place.

4. We left the small reception area as there is only room for one person at a time and she had another another customer to deal with. When we went back in and she relented and offered us the £75 refund on the cleaning fee as compensation for the missing items and a week’s free wifi which we accepted. At no time were we we trying to blame her personally and repeated that, her only failure was to appreciate that the problems in managing the hotel was not a problem to be shoved onto us.  We simply wanted what we had paid for and what was advertised.

5. Linen- Given the price of these apartments we were surprised to discover only one bath towel so we were lucky to catch the cleaning staff and get extra towels as we were there for 5 nights.  The three day linen change on the beds never happened which we were assured that they would do but they even failed  to do this- by now we were not surprised as this was the attitude throughout. 

We would not recommend this accommodation to anyone as there are plenty of other apartments, hotels, motels, cottages, Baches and B&B’s to enjoy in Wanaka.   A disgraceful waste as the apartment is very nice  and with improvements and a change of staff attitude it could be great. 

We sent this review to the hotel before posting one here.  The answers we received were weak and  simply highlighted to us that all the problems we encountered hhould all have been solved before the properties were ever let. Such basic mistakes could possibly be considered to be moderately acceptable in a brand new business, but not one that works 30 other apartments and 3 apartment buildings!

Apartments on Upton

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