I’ve stayed plenty of places around NZ when travelling for work, and one of my constant frustrations is dealing with, or trying to find, a good quality internet connection at decent prices. Most of the time, the wi-fi will be very expensive. Rates like $30 for 24 hours are just painful, and rates for half an hour are generally pointless.

Why can’t more properties offer free wi-fi to offer their guests a truly useful service and boost loyalty? I’d certainly go back to a hotel that offered a reliable connection as for me, internet is a vital part of a hotel stay.

Is it as vital for most Kiwis though? I’ve included a few questions about internet in the Travelbug survey that we are running at the moment to find an answer to that very question. At the time of publishing this blog, we have had over 5,000 survey completions and so far 45% of respondants said that internet was 8 or more out of 10 in terms of importance in choosing a place to stay:

I’ll keep you posted on the results, but it seems that internet, and more specifically free internet, is pretty important to Kiwis. It will be interesting to see how this changes over time as well, so we’ll ask it in a couple of survey’s time.

So where can you stay to get free internet in NZ? That’s a great question, I’m glad you asked. Travelbug has a bunch of great options, but we’ve selected a few of our favourites below. At all of these properties you’ll get wi-fi included in your room rate so you can tweet, post, email, share, skype, facetime up a storm.

Bolton Hotel, Wellington – great 5-star property just off The Terrace and close to Parliament, Lambton Quay and the stadium. Treat yourself to a meal in their restaurant and you won’t be disappointed.

The Tauranga on the Waterfront - great reviews from Travelbug customers and views over the harbour make this a hotel you shouldn’t look past. They rated as “Best in District” in our 2012 Travelbug Awards too!

The Brothers Boutique Hotel, Dunedin – cool little 4-star property in the heart of Dunedin. Try and book a balcony room for great views.

Pullman Auckland - 5-star property on Waterloo Quadrant, it’s a great option for busness or leisure, with excellent service and facilities.

The Devon Hotel & Conference Centre, New Plymouth – everyone loves a trip to the ‘Naki and this is our most popular spot.

Trailways Hotel Nelson - 4-star hotel right on the banks of the river, I have it on good authority from our resident Travelbug scout that this is a great option for any stay in sunny Nelson.

Heritage Queenstown - if you’re thinking of a trip to NZ’s winter playground you’d do well to stay at Heritage. 4.5 stars and a great review rating on Travelbug!

Marlborough Vintners Hotel, Blenheim – feel like a getaway? If you’ve never visited the gorgeous Marlborough now is a great time to check out the crisp morning air and the action of the grape harvest.

The Wellesley Boutique Hotel, Wellington – a really cool little property in the heart of the city, you are close to all the fabulous shopping of the capital.

The Quadrant Hotel, Auckland – stylish, colourful and cool, this a great option for an inner-city stay. Check out the little nook in the ground floor restaurant bar for a private hideaway and a quiet drink.

One of the attendees at the Google conference was Patrick Hoffman – one of 5 designers for Google maps. I had a really good chat with him on the bus over the Rimutaka Hills and he described with great passion about the iconography around Google maps  – something that I have always taken for granted and never really thought about. I was sceptical and somewhat cynical. How could someone make a career from icons on maps?

Well if you stop and think about it, it’s actually extremely important.

Google maps is prevalent everywhere – from the web to mobile, it’s consistently one of the best apps around. It continues to please and continues to serve our needs. It’s just useful.

So with the large majority of us dependent on it, with phenomenally high usage, it’s no wonder that icons are of vital importance. Get it wrong and you confuse millions of people. Get it right, and this Google product will remain second to none.

So when he raised this whole thing about icons, I asked as a pure layman, ‘you mean like churches and things?’

Apparently I hit the nail on the head in terms of the complexities involved with the job. It turned out that the church icon was arguably the most difficult icon to design. How do you design a singular church icon that covers all religions and faiths? After only a week of user testing, and design iteration, Patrick settled on a symbol that was universal in its recognition by taking the key architectural elements from the front of a place of worship – the big front entrance, the steeple, the minarets and the high sloping peaks.

So it’s no wonder with the attention to detail and care that Google take with their maps product that websites like ours want to utilise it. This combined with the ever growing popularity, straight out dependency and ubiquity of Google maps nowadays; we decided it would be useful to create a page that was purely dedicated to Google maps and accommodation.

We even created our own icon.

The icon is a price tag pointing at the exact location of the accommodation property.  The magic begins as you zoom in. The more you zoom in the more accommodation becomes available. In fact there are over 2,500 accommodation options available at the time of writing this blog.

When you hover over the price tags it shows a pop up with the description, prices for coming days and a photo of the property.

We at Travelbug love the functionality that Google maps allow. In fact we’ve been using it for quite a while. You can find Google maps on all our accommodation listings if you want to know where you’ll be staying.

We hope you enjoy our use of Google maps and the new page we created. It’s all designed to make your decision making as easy as possible.

Taupo Golf Club is situated on Centennial Drive, a 5 minute drive north east of the town. There are two 18 hole golf courses on offer. We decided on the Tauhara Course which is a 68.1 par eighteen hole course with short smaller greens. Play continued amongst the thermal activity on the course and by the 18^th I was happy with the 1 under par I had averaged.

Taupo Golf Club

The course has good facilities with practise fairways, putting greens, a chipping green and 3 practise bunkers together with a pro shop. The club house was a great place to unwind at the end of the course and we stopped for a drink on the expansive outdoor deck before our meal in the restaurant.

Inspired after the previous day we checked out the golfing information and decided on a 25 minute drive to the west of Taupo to the Kinloch Golf Course. Kinloch is currently the only Jack Nicklaus exclusive signature club to be completed in New Zealand and the only one in Australasia. Since opening in 2007 golfers have experienced the truly unique character, created by Nicklaus, on the par 72 eighteen hole golf course. The distinctive course is surrounded by Great Lake Taupo to the south and the Kinloch hills to the east, which creates a unique ambiance that is rarely experienced anywhere else in the world.

Kinloch Golf Course

The internationally renowned, 18 hole course is an easy 10 km drive to the north of Taupo. The Wairakei International Golf Course and Sanctuary, was our next destination. We were impressed when driving in, to be greeted by the nine metre high Pouwhenua (Maori carving) at the entrance to the facility.

The Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary offered our golfing party a unique opportunity to blend recreation, unknowingly with restoration and conservation. The course has a five kilometre“Xcluder” pest proof fence, which has been designed to keep out predators and enable nearly 25,000 native trees and 5,000 exotics to flourish at the sanctuary. This has encouraged bird life and further enhances the park like surroundings.

Wairakei International Golf Course and Sanctuary

To our delight 200 mixed colour pheasant have also been released onto the golf course property together with a small herd of around 15 fallow deer and a stag which are being reared within a deer fenced area. The whole of the golf course and sanctuary works in harmony and it was a pleasure to play a round at this par 72 facility.

Alternatively, just a few kilometres to the north from here is the Bayview Wairakei Resort 9-hole golf course. Offering the golfer a par 34 compact course, with the longest hole measuring 366 metres, including easy-walking greens amongst lovely scenery and mature trees.

Bayview Wairakei Resort 9-hole golf course

For more information about golfing in the Great Lake Taupo region visit Taupo golf.

When you book with Travelbug, then place a review after your stay, your review is badged as a “verified” review. That helps indicate it’s from someone we know has stayed and we reckon it therefore holds more weight. Here’s an example of an Auckland hotel with both types of reviews. We only used verified reviews to count towards our recent 100% guest reviewed awards, for instance.

We still allow those who didn’t book their stay with us to place a review from us (as long as it is based on actual experience with the property) and we do this to make the site a useful place to research and book accommodation.

However lately we have been a little concerned that in allowing these non-bookers to review on our site, we might be actually doing the opposite and skewing reviews towards the negative end of the spectrum. We wondered if those who were placing reviews with us might be visiting Travelbug purely to place a negative review on a place they were particularly unhappy with. So we took a look at the numbers.

The numbers show that, over the last 12 months, unverified reviews are over twice as likely to be thumbs-down reviews. Here are verified reviews first:

And here are unverified reviews:

So while 6% of those who we know have booked with us place a thumbs-down review, 14% of the ‘unknowns’ place a review with a big fat downward thumb.

The question this raises then is this: should we change our rules and only allow those who have made a booking with us place a review, thereby making the reviews automatically more authentic and trustworthy? Or should we keep it open for anyone and everyone to place a review regardless of whether they booked on Travelbug?

To help us decide, we’re running a poll over on our Travelbug Facebook page, so take a look and place your vote. Internal Trade Me polling is pretty strongly skewed in one direction, so I’m keen to see what our readers, followers and likers have to say.

Hop on over, place a vote and help shape the future of Travelbug accommodation reviews! I’ll keep you posted on the results, meanwhile here’s a cartoon from the awesome XKCD to leave you with:

I used to think that the best sort of raft was one that didn’t sink. But I don’t think that anymore, not after a trip down the mighty Rangitikei with some work mates on a recent offsite: it turns out a sinking raft can be just the sort of vessel that makes a river trip really enjoyable.

We headed off for our overnight ‘strategy session’ at about midday. Our destination was a hut on the banks of the Rangitikei at Te Para Hut, a true gem of a back-country shack on a farm just outside Mangaweka. To get there, though, we were driving in convoy from Wellington. A compulsory stop for fast food in Levin saw us lose one of our walkie-talkies and all inter-vehicle communication. It may have been Rick’s fault, or it may have been mine, we’re not quite sure. I think it was Rick.

It’s amazing what you can learn about a colleague on a 3 hour car ride. Who would have thought that our office manager used to work in mines in Australia, or that our legal eagle can breath fire and dance with fire poi? Crikey.

But it was when we hit the banks of the Rangitikei river that the fun really started. The raft looked OK parked up by the trees, but when we hopped in and started paddling, we quickly learned that there was a massive amount of air escaping from beside a valve. The first set of rapids was a complete shambles with us trying to make it through with the gunnels under the river level. Off to the side of the river to pump up again and then set off with one person perched at the front trying to stop the air escaping, kneeling on the canvas floor.

Hilarity ensued when rapids came and the leak-stopper got their knees bashed by the rocks just under the water.  Ouch. But we soldiered on (or is that “sailored”?), took shifts and made our way through to our destination.

It would have been less embarrassing if we weren’t being accompanied by 3 of our team in a Hamilton 150a jetboat with a 350 chev, and another of the team (a true pioneer and mountain man) in a one-man kayak/raft that he brought along in a backpack, with accompanying collapsible carbon fibre paddle.

These clowns were darting around the river, spraying us with water and navigating the rapids with no bruises or leaks whatsoever.

Here’s how the raft looked when we arrived, battered and laughing, at Te Para Hut:

Before we did some work we had some time to firstly appreciate the absolute quiet, the stillness, the beauty and the clean air of that magic spot, before we shattered that silence with the booming reports of an Enfield .303, exploding Rangitikei greywacke rocks from 100 feet. Marvellous. (We were shooting responsibly with a clear range and targets, kids, and well-maintained firearms and heck it was good fun).

Although we did actually do some work, we managed not to let strategy documents spoil the enjoyment that the privilege of being on the banks of the river with a bonfire, a fine single malt and some great company can provide. It must also be said that while the hut was in the middle of nowhere, had dodgy cellphone coverage and no power, the shower was incredible. Roughing it we were not.

It can be easy sometimes not to take a breath and look around at what this marvellous country can provide in terms of simple pristine beauty. At Te Para Hut on the Rangitikei there are no snowy-peaked mountains and no panoramic vistas, just plain old green trees, clear water and fresh air: it’s good honest countryside and it is all the more spectacular for it. If you get the chance, take a trip to the Rangitikei, float down the river in a dodgy raft, marvel at the sheer cliffs and spot a jumping trout or two. Breathe it in, you’ll love it.

As you’ll know, we have the widest range of bookable accommodation in New Zealand and all properties – from holiday parks and backpackers to luxury lodges – are automatically eligible for the awards. So what are the awards? There are five categories:

One percent go platinum, Copthorne Bay of Islands tops list

After the 2011 awards, we decided that we had made it too easy to win, so this year we made the criteria more demanding, and as a result only 1% of properties achieved the highest accolade – the Platinum Award – making it even more prestigious than last year. To make this award as meaningful as possible we had to raise the bar on the % of thumbs-up reviews and the number of bookings required to even be eligible for an award. This means that these properties can be justifiably proud of receiving Platinum status (Platinum winners shown below).

Deserving of special mention is Copthorne Hotel and Resort Bay of Islands, who was the Platinum property with the highest overall score.

The Best in Region and Best in District awards were also hotly contested, but again the criteria were tightened up to bring the very best properties to the top (Best in Region winners shown below).

Canterbury & Wanaka star in “100% Reviews”

The award that most factors in traveller feedback is the 100% Reviews award, which is effectively judged by guests who have stayed in the properties. Operators with a 100% “thumbs up” result across a minimum number of reviews received the award. We love helping travellers keep each other informed so this year we added the rule that all winners of the 100% reviews award must have a minimum number of bookings and 100% verified reviews.

Canterbury came up trumps as the region with the most 100% Reviews awards (37, or 15%), but Lake Wanaka was the clear winner as the region with the highest average review percentage, with 98.9% of all travellers giving their Wanaka accommodation a thumbs-up. Of accommodation types, bed and breakfasts win as the highest-rated with 98.7% receiving thumbs-up reviews.

There are a huge range of properties across the country with staff and owners slaving away to provide top-class traveller experiences. We’re pleased to be able to give them a pat on the back for a job well done, not only in promoting their property, but promoting New Zealand to the rest of the world.

So who won? Here are the winners of the Best in Region and Platinum awards, plus the breakdown of the numbers of winners for each award.

Well done to all the winners, and happy travels!

Travelbug ‘Best in Region’ award winners 2012

Total winners in each category:

1. Platinum Property (30 winners) 
2. Gold Property (233 winners)
3. Best in Region (22 winners)
4. Best in District (56 winners)
5. 100% Guest Rating (250 winners)

Travelbug ‘Platinum’  award winners 2012

We gave subscribers to our Travelbug newsletter a chance to win a night’s stay at the wonderful Amora Hotel in Auckland. To be in the draw to win one of three bed & breakfast vouchers, we needed you to answer this question correctly:

“How many polka-dot cushions are in photo #11?”

Here’s photo #11:

Now aside from the controversy I caused with the definition of ‘polka-dot’, the answer we were looking for was three. Congratulations to Nicki, Mark and Vanessa who each win one of those great B&B vouchers!

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for this week’s Easter Trev easter hunt clue and another chance to win $1,000 travel credit. Adios!

Visitors to Great Lake Taupo tend to work up quite an appetite pursuing everything from freefall skydiving and white water jet boating to bungy jumping Taupo style or exploring the sights on a quad bike. The Great Lake itself, which has the largest surface of any lake in New Zealand and is the second largest freshwater lake in Oceania, is a paradise for water lovers. Swimming, boating, sailing and kayaking are just a few of the water-related activities that take place on the lake and along the region’s rivers, which are recognized worldwide as offering some of the finest trout fishing available anywhere on the planet.

There are a number of ways to truly enjoy a “dining on the lake” experience at Great Lake Taupo. One is to have a picnic by the lake, combining an enjoyment of the gorgeous scenery with delicious take away foods provided by one of the region’s many affordable ethnic restaurants. Most of the restaurants in the region offer family-friendly daily deals that are easy on the budget and include some of the best signature dishes that New Zealand has to offer, including the traditional meat pies, Anzac and Afghan biscuits, Hangi-roasted lamb and pork and such sweet treats as Lolly Cakes.

Another way to enjoy lakeside dining is with a dinner reservation at one of the many fabulous restaurants that dot the lake’s shoreline. These include superior Edgewater Restaurant at the Millennium Hotel & Resort in Taupo and Lakeland House in Turangi, all of which feature stunning lakeside panoramic vistas to accompany gourmet dining under the direction of some of New Zealand’s most accomplished chefs.

Great Lake Taupo has a well-earned reputation as the Events Capital of New Zealand. No matter what season a family chooses to visit – winter, spring, summer or autumn — there is likely to be a festival or event happening that celebrates some aspect of sports, culture, arts, entertainment or food. For lovers of food and fun, there can be no better time to schedule a weekend visit to the Great Lake Taupo region than over the Easter holiday, when Turangi Colours presents the annual Art and Food Festival that allows visitors to sample the best food and winery favorites located throughout this region.

In addition to art workshops and art exhibits, this year’s festival offers trout fishing for kids as part of its kids activities calendar, a pumpkin growing competition, street theatre and a town centre stage, a food and craft market, a Rotoaira Fishing Competition and a Gala Dinner featuring a special menu prepared by chefs and culinary experts from throughout the Great Lake Taupo region.

The recent reopening of the River Wines Vineyard and Restaurant at the Tongariro River Estate is a good reminder for visitors to check out winery tours offered in this part of New Zealand, where grape production benefits from the area’s high altitude and cool climate. Great Lake Taupo provides a wonderland of fun family activities and a wide array of food and beverage options for adults and children alike who are hungry for adventure as well as for enjoying some of the best dishes that New Zealand has to offer.

This blog post was brought to you by the magnificent Destination Great Lake Taupo team. 

In last month’s Travelbug newsletter we ran a contest to find the best Summer-themed photo taken by subscribers, Facebook and Twitter followers.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who entered – we had a great time going through each one, reading the stories and recounting your best summer memories. It was a privilege for us to share in your New Zealand summer!

It certainly was hard going, but of the entries we received we picked out 3 photos that jumped out at us and of these 3, we had to pick one winner. Here are the results!

Buddy having a good shake after a swim

We loved this action shot of Buddy doing what dogs do best. It oozes a certain charm that captures that good ol’ family summer holiday spirit. Thanks to Lynley from Paeroa, a Travelbug t-shirt is on its way to you!

 Jackson and his new best friend, Mr Giraffe

You could hear the collective “awww!” from the other side of the building when we saw this one. A sweet giraffe shows little Jackson a bit of summer love! Cheers to Sally from Wellington for sharing this picture of her grandson. A t-shirt for Jackson is in order, too!

And the winner of the $200 Travelbug credit goes to…

Riding high aboard the Tucker Thompson

Congratulations to Caroline and Lionel who snapped this awesome picture aboard the Tucker Thompson tall ship in Northland. Our team thought it encapsulated a spirit of adventure alive in all Kiwis and is simply a great summer flick!

Thanks again to everyone who sent in their photos. Until next time, adios!

We are roughly covering all three of the main compass points you can travel on land from Dunedin…

West, 2 hours to Roxburgh:

To the west of Dunedin (inland) you navigate towards Central Otago which is well known for destinations like Queenstown and Wanaka. Along the route from Dunedin to Queenstown you will pass through some beautiful spots like Lawrence, Roxburgh, Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell.

In late December we spent a few nights in Roxburgh, a place we have driven through many times but never stayed. We found a gem for our accommodation at Roxburgh’s Teviot Country Motels & Backpackers. The kids enjoyed feeding the goat and ponies and the owner also kindly allowed us to help ourselves to the big fat cherries growing on the grounds. Nom nom nom.

We did a couple of short walks in the area, recommended by the Visitor Centre and I love walking along the Clutha river. It was hot in Roxburgh, around 30 degrees, so a good spot to swim was mandatory. We found just the ticket at Pinder’s Pond (which my sons affectionately renamed “Piddler’s Pond”), a large man made swimming hole left behind by Roxburgh’s mining past. At it’s deepest, Pinder’s Pond is 23 metres deep.

The jewel in the crown of Roxburgh are Jimmy’s pies! Without question the best mass produced pie in the universe, made in Roxburgh. Who ate all the pies? Well, we certainly tried.

North, just half an hour to Karitane:

Dotted along the coast to the north of Dunedin you will find many “quintessentially kiwi” beach spots like Moeraki, Karitane, Waikouaiti and Kakanui.

Last week we spent a few days at Karitane. If you’re looking for a place to unwind, this is it. We stayed with family who rented a holiday house via Holiday Houses, which had a nice flat spot for our caravan out front. Our time in Karitane was spent taking short walks, swimming at the beach and fishing.

One small highlight for me was found on a day trip to Palmerston. I came across a second hand store called Trash Converters. Ignoring the blatant plagiarism in their branding, this place had the most amazing collection of original, unopened Star Wars figurines and other memorabilia. I spent a good while in there reliving my childhood.

South, 1.5 hours to Pounawea:

A lot of Kiwis who travel overseas often say that it took leaving NZ before they could appreciate what is right on our doorstep here at home. Reading between the lines, that means we have a lot of spots that go unappreciated by those that live right near them. I would say that Dunedinites who don’t holiday in the Catlins region (just 1.5 hrs south of Dunedin) would have to rate highly on this measure.

The Catlins region offers some of the most amazing forests, lakes and beach spots in the country. Before the kids go back to school this month we are planning to take the last of our trips to Pounawea. It looks amazing and we are looking forward to it.

My advice

Come and spend some time enjoying everything Dunedin has to offer, just make sure you allow time in your itinerary to make day trips to great nearby spots!

Where are your favourite spots within a couple of hours from home?