Christmas message, no room at inn

"No vacancy" signs are being posted outside Rotorua and Taupo motels and motor camps as beds fill up with summer holidaymakers.
Accommodation providers in Rotorua, Taupo and the Eastern Bay of Plenty say they are getting between 20 and 30 calls a day from those who have not pre-booked rooms.

Duty managers have spent the past two days squeezing visitors into some motels with spare units but they warn most will be full by the New Year.

Lake Taupo Accommodation Association president Glenda Reid said Taupo motels had received fewer forward bookings than last year, which was unusual.

But Motel Marketing New Zealand Rotorua branch president Steve Osborne said rooms in the city were filling up fast.

"There's a lot of inquiries from new New Zealanders who are still exploring the country and ringing about tariffs," he said.

The average motel price in Rotorua is $140 a night for two adults and two children.

At Rotorua's Blue Lake Top 10 Holiday Park only a handful of tent sites are still vacant, with cabins and motel units booked throughout January.

Manager Susan Timmer said a Tauranga woman who had spent more than 13 years holidaying at the Blue Lake was unable to visit this summer but in order to secure her camp site for next year she still paid for 12 nights' accommodation.

In the Eastern Bay of Plenty, warmer weather is luring thousands of holidaymakers to the beaches.

The Ohope Beach Top 10 Holiday Park has about 3000 guests staying over the New Year period, including some who have been holidaying at the park for more than 30 years.

Manager Di Ross said any vacancies were quickly snapped up.

To guarantee guests' safety and protection of their personal items, there are regular patrols and all guests wear special bracelets which identify them to staff and security officers.

Seven months after floods ravaged the coastal township of Matata, families are returning to holiday.

Murphy's Holiday Camp owner Terry Murphy said while pre-bookings were slightly down on last year, people were still showing a lot of faith in Matata.

Half of the camp was affected by the May floods and it was hit again in September when a storm eroded part of the coastline.

Work to restore the area was finished early this month. 


Meanwhile in Tauranga

If you are looking for a room near Tauranga at New Year, you had better be quick.

That's the message from the Tauranga District Motel Association network of more than 40 accommodation centres. There will be no rooms to spare come tomorrow.

People seeking city backpacker accommodation are already out of luck. Harbourside Backpackers and Mount Backpackers have been booked out for the past three weeks.

Loft 109 in Devonport Rd and Just the Ducks Nuts Backpackers in Vale St have no beds to spare either, and the 58 beds at Tauranga Central Backpackers in Willow St are booked too.

Pacific Coast Lodge Backpackers owner Murray Gamlin said bookings were filled in August. "There are just never enough beds this time of year."

Apple Tree Cottage Backpackers in Maxwells Rd is almost full.

Tauranga District Motel Association president Tony Burrell said those in the market for motels would have to get in quick.

To help people find a room, the association runs a duty roster over this period to ensure people are accommodated for the New Year.

"There are still rooms available, and if people ask any motel in the association they will be able to forward them on to finding a room," Mr Burrell said.

"They'll all know when the last room is gone, then we will start referring people on to motels in Katikati and Matamata."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES