Distinction Coachman Hotel, Palmerston North

My husband and I were travelling around New Zealand by car and had mapped out places to visit. I made the booking here 7 weeks in advance for a Studio Motel Queen room for 2 nights.
I had enquired at 8 other motels in the area but none were available on my required dates and I was running out of options. This motel read quite well on the website and was advertised as 4.5 star, photos looked good so I booked and paid NZ$418- (including breakfast)
I arrived to check in and was given a key to room 17 which was in Motel Back Block 2.
I asked the staff member if he had a map of the local area and was told NO but he handed me a flyer, welcoming me and it started with "The elegant 4.5-star hotel is situated........" It went on to list all their rules, various fees, facilities and times etc.
Now, looking back at the many photos on the website, I must have got the worst room in the entire "73 quality hotel suites and motel accommodation" (quoted on the flyer)
The carpet was filthy, there were crumbs and sprinkles on the table which appeared to be from a cake. The bathroom had dirt all around the floor and cobwebs in the corner behind the toilet. The taps on the basin were positioned so you could hardly get your hands under them. The only plus here were the soft towels and bathroom products.
The room was big enough but it also had a single bed, which was not needed. This cut down on space which was needed for suitcases. The queen bed was pushed almost against the wall only allowing about 15cm to get in/out. The wall lights behind the bed didn't align with the bed and were hard to access as they were set up for a double/queen bed. The room had large windows which faced the afternoon sun. With no air conditioning or ceiling fan it would be very hot. On our visit, the sun streaming in was welcome as it was a cool day.
Free Parking outside the room was a plus.

The operators of this establishment are plainly irresponsible - you’ll be confronted by drunkenness, yelling and screaming around the pool. Very early morning wake ups as the custodian decants empty glass bottle bins into larger bins and rats hanging around the rubbish and recycling area.
Do yourself a favour and stay elsewhere.

Budget as! Clean enough. Ok to stay at if you want something cheap but still not cheap enough for what you get. Needs a good makeover, not like it was 5 years ago. Showers need a good scrub, no Skytv not even at bar to watch rugby. Used the pool, was clean but leaves everywhere grounds could do with a caretaker to tidy up leaves. Beds uncomfortable for me but was still clean enough. Looked in the gym, needs a clean and tidy, build up of dust and smells old and dusty really. Only stayed as was cheapest place left in Palmy. Rest were double the price

The booking was in the motel but I didn’t realise this from the booking process. Even the reception to get the key is in the hotel side so not sure how this happened. Pictures on the site at booking time showed the hotel. The motel room was in a poor state of repair and very dated and doesn’t have air conditioning so on a hot day it’s an oven even with it all open. Wouldn’t stay here again.

No aircon?!?!?
Hotel looked great online and the Distinction brand great so I booked a standard room for $160 despite others in the street being $15-30 cheaper. Room 108. What disappointed me, was that in 2024 the room had no aircon. Which is a must in the middle of summer. I slept with the windows open and because of that had a cockroach for company! TV was old school with just a few channels. No Sky as far as I could tell as remote’s channel changer only went up not down… 😬. Room a bit dated too and bed tired, I think a basic change for them would be to at least tell you when checking in that the room doesn’t have aircon. All the cheaper ones in the street did after all, along with 50 Sky channels I discovered by looking at the signs outside other motels whilst going for a run. Motel and room was quaint, I just think they need to update those rooms as there was no value for money there, especially with so much choice on Fitzherbet Ave.