We are planning to visit the Abel Tasman NP for a few days in November (on the way from Christchurch to the Glaciers). Please recommend somewhere nice to stay in the area (Nelson, Marahau, Motueka, Kaiteriteri). Our preferred price range would be around $250/night.

Thank you

We've stayed at these places and have enjoyed all of them:

Self-contained:

The Old Schoolhouse
Maple Grove Cottage
Almyra Villa (there are two properties under this name, we stayed at the villa in Mapua)
The Blue Moom B&B

You might also consider the Awaroa Lodge right in Abel Tasman - we haven't stayed there yet, but we had a nice meal there and took a look at their rooms:

http://www.awaroalodge.co.nz

Lots of interesting lodging options in the Abel Tasman area...

Make that The Blue Moon...

So many places look nice. All things being equal, we'd prefer something larger and with a view.

Any opinion on the Abel Tasman Marahau Lodge?
http://www.abeltasmanmarahaulodge.co.nz/

The Awaroa Lodge seems a bit difficult to reach and gets some negative reviews on TripAdvisor.

Which was your favorite?

The Marahau Lodge certainly looks nice and I believe there are a few Fodorites who've stayed there.

Keep in mind that Marahau is tiny - while the location is perfect for easy Abel Tasman access, there's not much in the 'village'.

If you plan to stay in the area for more than a few days and plan to see more than Abel Tasman, you could very well find a Marahau base a bit inconvenient - you might want to drive to Motueka or Mapua for meals, drive to Nelson for the arts/crafts, drive to Nelson/Richmond/Upper Moutere for wineries, drive to Kaiteriteri for the beach, etc.

If your intent is to just hang out and enjoy Abel Tasman, Marahau is a good choice.

I've always thought Kaiteriteri would be a great place to stay, but I've not yet had a chance to stay there.

Sorry to hear that the Awaroa Lodge has gotten bad reviews. It's definitely difficult to reach from the Marahau side, yet only a five minute water taxi ride from the opposite end of Abel Tasman.

As far as which accommodation I've liked the best of the above mentioned...

Probably The Old Schoolhouse, although it's been several years since we were there. It's well located, a shortish drive to Nelson and a shorter drive to Motueka. The owners were great fun and invited us to join them for wine and snacks in their home. We returned each evening to find a fire burning in the stove (we visited in Sept). Nice view of Kina Beach and the owner's small vineyard.

The other places were nice as well, but in different ways - Maple Grove Cottage is located in a quiet country setting and we enjoyed our three nights there. Great owners, no view.

The Blue Moon is a very short drive to Marahau and it was nice in a funky, offbeat kind of way. No view, located in a neighborhood.

Almrya Villa is a well equipped, nicely decorated, spacious, spotlessly clean comfortable house, but the location was a bit off for us - it's in a Mapua neighborhood. I would have preferred something a bit more isolated, but that's just me. No view.

Good luck.

Browsing some more, I think we will go with Ocean View Chalets, http://www.accommodationabeltasman.co.nz/

Our intent is to hang out and enjoy Abel Tasman. We are much less interested in arts/crafts, wineries, etc. Ocean View Chalets seems very close to Abel Tasman, the rooms seem nice and it has views.

We'll have to figure out where to eat.

Any other thoughts?

thanks!

I would definitely recommend the Ocean View Chalets. I can't believe that it has already been over 2 years since we stayed here but we thought that the views and accomodation were fantastic. The hosts were great as well. You can read my review on Tripadvisor at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...th_Island.html.

Happy Travels