Description: Fox Glacier is very much a resort town (for that read: tourist trap) and consequently, accommodation (an food) wise you are likely to be paying a lot for not very much.
Budget family places are hard to come by, and as it was dark when we arrived we simply drove to the Fox Glacier Holiday Park, as we knew it was likely to have some of the cheaper (if not exactly cheap) places, and we needed a bed (or four) for the night.
We were offered what is in NZ called a "self contained en suite unit" - in other words, a better kind of cabin, a notch up from a "standard cabin" and a notch down form a "motel".
Altogether, the cabin had two bedrooms (a double and a twin), a bathroom and a living/kitchen space. The bedrooms were adequate, with comfortable beds, clean sheets and plenty of blankets. The living space was basic: not particularly spacious, and with nowhere comfortable to seat, it was taken up by the kitchen section and a dining table with four chairs, but there was no sofa or armchairs to relax in.
The kitchen part had all the basic kitchen equipment, and if you wanted to self cater here you could, although it certainly was not a place to come back in the evening to relax after a day of walking and exploring.
The bathroom looked OK, but next morning I found that the water pressure in the shower was utterly appalling, below even the worst British standards for showers. I foolishly decided to wash my hair and it took me ages to be able to rinse it.
The whole place felt tired and a bit cheap, and on entry there was a faint musty smell, understandable (as Fox Glacier is on the West Coast famous for its wet weather) but not particularly lovely.
I did not have a chance to sample the common facilities of the park as a whole as we arrived late and left the next morning, though the staff members we met were polite and helpful enough.
Altogether, the Fox Glacier Holiday Park was adequate: not horrible, but nothing more than that. Considering that we paid 165 NZD for the night we spent there, which was the highest we ever paid in New Zealand for what was probably the poorest standard of accommodation we experienced, I consider it poor value overall. There was nothing grossly wrong with the accommodation, and on quality alone I would have given it three stars, but in combination with a price it doesn't deserve even that.
Stay there if you really need to, but if you can afford it, stay somewhere else in Fox, and if you can't, try to find accommodation outside the tourist trap of the village as you are bound to get better value for your money.
Close