Finn's Paekakariki

"Great pub, food looked good and plenty of choices. Staff were friendly."

"We visited Finn’s Paekakariki on Friday evening. First to the strengths. As has been mentioned by other reviewers, the property is very close to the train station, has a restaurant, and is situated at the northern entrance to the Escarpment Track hike. Also, a notable relative strength was the wide selection of available television channels to choose from while resting in the evening after a long hike. Further, the restaurant/tavern has an impressive selection of international beer and wines to choose from. Regarding our overall rating. Three weakness that should be considered and addressed by this property. First regarding check-in, something we now read as a problem by others that have placed a review in this space. Check-in time was noted as 2:00pm in both public materials and on the non-refundable invoice we were emailed at the time we made the reservation. When we arrived at 2:10pm and found all doors locked and entrances to the property, e.g., the check-in area and restaurant with lights turned off and dark, we were concerned the property was closed or out of business, and almost turned ourselves around to return back to Wellington after circling each side of the property multiple times to find a way in. We even stopped a stranger walking his dog on the pavement to ask if he knew how to get inside the hotel to check in. After he tried to assist us, he suggested we go to a gated area in the back, a place that appears to be shared between the hotel and some private residences, to see if we might find our way inside there. We did, and found an open door through a private office and then into a kitchen area where we found some employees working. When asked, the staff person (perhaps manager) that then checked us in explained that they were preparing a special dinner for that evening and would not be opening up the front area (check-in and restaurant) until 3:00pm. While we refrained from being argumentative, we certainly wondered how this might have been better handled through communicating this decision to open late to guests, especially with a non-refundable booking policy, perhaps via sending that information in an email, or even placing a sign on the door. We found the excuse offered for opening check-in an hour late without notice because it was a national holiday wanting. We’ve traveled widely in North America, Europe, and Asia during many different national holidays and never found ourselves locked out of a 4-star hotel during the hotel’s prescribed check-in time. Next regarding cleanliness, another theme we now see mentioned by other reviewers. There was a disturbing amount of black mold on the shower growing on the tiles. We are not speaking of the grout, which also had mold, but the tiles themselves! If this review allows photo uploads, we will include them. It was certainly unsanitary and unsightly, and most puzzling, something that could easily be remedied with standard cleaning practices, i.e., gloves, bleach based cleaners available at any grocery store, water, and a sponge or brush. Finally, while we appreciated the specials and options available on the menu for dinner, we in fact ordered one, we left half of the entrée after finding a long hair inside of the beef curry. We’ll leave readers to decide whether they think this is a reasonable standard of food preparation hygiene. In sum, we wanted to highlight many merits of this property and made efforts in this review to share the good things we observed, however, given the ease with which the owners and managers could improve the concerns we’ve raised, concerns that appear to be in harmony with what others have noted in this space, one might wonder why these problems continue. Overall, how this property is listed as a “4-star” hotel, remains a mystery unless this is something that is decided by the proprietors rather than some independent rating body. North American, European, and Asian travels will not recognize this as a 4-star property under any circumstances, unless the star rating system is 1 to 10 stars."

"Popped in for lunch. Food coming out was a bit slow but delicious though. Great food and selection. Would return."

"Dinner Menu. Awesome food well priced & definitely filling. Good service & friendly staff. Great job. Will recommend & come back for sure. Also ate here for breakfast. Perfect eggs benedict good portion,well priced. Keep up the good work"

"It's one of those places that has everything you need while traveling or having a holiday, Restaurant, bar, nice accommodation upstairs. Across the road is a four square, vege shop and cafes, then a short walk to the beach for exercise. Even catch train into Wellington CBD. The staff are so awesome, helpful and very friendly to approach. We will definitely be staying here again."