When we weren't sightseeing or shopping, we were at the hotel. It had a huge restaurant, three bars, an icecream shop, a convenience store, and a spa. Plus, the grounds were extensive and pretty to walk around.
Who wouldn't love it? We certainly had no complaints.
But by day eight or so, living out of our suitcases was beginning to be a bit of a drag.
Trying to keep our clean and dirty clothes organised without drawers or a decent closet was becoming a real mission.
Eating out for every meal was losing its appeal – we craved a simple, home-cooked meal, but our room had a small kitchenette with only a toaster, jug and microwave. There wasn't even a can opener, let alone a chopping board and knife.
If we wanted some downtime, we had to sit on the bed. That sounds fine in theory, but it's amazing how much you can miss having a couch, armchair or dining table when all you want to do is play cards or curl up with a good book. Not to mention the dangers of chocolate crumbs on pristine white sheets.
That first night back at home was probably the most relaxing part of my whole vacation. Snug, with my own familiar pillow, wrapped in my own soft blankets. Home, sweet home.
First-world problems, I know. I'm aware. But what I'm getting at is that staying in a hotel room is fun – for a time. Then, we crave the creature comforts of our own familiar spaces.
Hotel rooms are designed to be comfortable for a holiday or business trip. They're for people who are likely to be out and about for a large portion of the day, not for full-time housing.
I don't know how some emergency housing tenants are handling living in those cramped spaces for months on end. I don't think I'd cope.
It's a matter of having to, I guess. Probably beats living in a car or garage, at that.
But it's still not exactly a living situation that any of us would aspire to.
Using hotels as last-resort emergency accommodation does make sense. After all, they're fully equipped for short stays, and they're ready to go at a moment's notice.
But when families are stuck in those conditions for months on end – and even years, in some cases – something is seriously wrong.
The Government has spent almost $70 million on emergency housing over the last five years in just Rotorua alone.
That's a whole chunk of change. Don't get me wrong - I reckon keeping children from living on the streets is worth every dime.
But it's an awful lot of money to be continually spending on band-aids.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni told Radio New Zealand that the emergency housing grant numbers were slowly coming down and that the current housing crisis was "inherited" by Labour.
Yeah, there's truth to that. The Bay of Plenty Times published a series of articles in 2016 looking at Tauranga's "hidden homeless" – the large number of people living in cars, garages and tents as rents rose, home ownership dropped and higher numbers of people fell into poverty. So, the crisis has certainly been around since National's time.
But Labour has also been in Government for 1842 days now, and we're still here. And we're doing it much harder now than in 2016, too, I'd argue.
In January 2016, New Zealand's median house price was $445,000 – and our people were struggling.
Do you know what the country's median house price is now? Latest figures have it at $811,000 – and that's dropped more than $100,000 since November last year.
Covid obviously made things harder. But there were people living in emergency housing in hotels before the pandemic struck – the virus simply exacerbated an existing issue. It should never have been allowed to get this bad in the first place.
I have no sympathy for a second-term government that continues to blame its predecessors for current issues, even if that is a fair call. Blame solves nothing. I want to hear about concrete solutions that are ready to be rolled out today, not tit-for-tat about whose fault it is.
Families need homes now. We don't have the luxury of time. We can't wait five or 10 years for new houses to be built. We need radical, inventive and creative solutions from a brave and dedicated government.
Our country's housing needs are dire. We are in crisis now.
