Posters' help on this site has been invaluable. My gratitude to those who are willing to share their experiences.

My husband & I need advice for hotels in the following locations. Must have private bath & central location - and prefer not want to exceed $225 NZD unless its HIGHLY recommended. Here's the list:
Wellington
Queenstown
Picton
Abel Tasman NP
Westport
Christchurch
Nelson

Thanks in advance!

I cannot help you with specific hotels as I think my budget is different from yours and we travel as a family of four. Having said that I can recommend using the Entertainment book (I used the Auckland one)to get 50% off rack rates or using the Wotif web site to get hotel discounts. The Wotif site only books 30 days ahead so it may be difficult to plan ahead but many of their rates are fairly good. Easiest to get good rates off season.

For that amount, you should be able to get very good hotels in most places.

My experience is that <b>wotif.com</b> shows great rates for the next 30 days, as mjs says. But if you email the hotel directly now, you may be able to get the same rate well in advance.

In your other thread, I suggested the Bay Plaza in Wellington. Another poster said it has mixed reviews on TripAdvisor, but we had a large, clean room overlooking the harbor with a nice seating area. The bathroom was small but we had enough room for the two of us.

The Bay Plaza is within easy walking distance of downtown, Te Papa, Oriental Bay, and Mt. Victoria.

Lee Ann

We have stayed at Booklovers B&amp;B in MT Victoria Wellington, great part of town, the woman who owns it is a famous author in NZ so is very interesting to talk to.

Orari B&amp;B in Christchurch, close to the Arts Centre, lots of guests to talk to, breakfasts fun.

These are all central. Sorry , do not know about other places

Queenstown we stayed in Browns Hotel which is a small hotel. We do not like the big chains at all.

Check out Golden Chain. We stayed with them at a variety of locations. Fairly new chain where hotels are individually owned but built to a consistent standard. Nice rooms at attractive prices. You can get rooms with kitchenetes which are great when you get tired of eating out. We stayed with them at various locations throughout NZ.
http://www.goldenchain.co.nz/

Sorry I meant to say Bella Vista hotels. See below:
http://www.bellavistamotels.co.nz/index.htm

We also stayed at the Golden Chain but it is more expensive and accomadations are more varied.

In Christchurch we stayed at Flag suites, Chateau Blanc. Corner of Kilmore and Montreal St. Great place, very comfortable suite in your price range. We had one bedroom, Living room Kitchen plus a walk out balcony. Within a short walking distance of center of Christchuerch. We loved it. Check it out.

http://www.flagchoice.com.au/action/hotel?hotel=NZ072

When we visited Queenstown we decided to stay in Arrowtown and drive into Queenstown for the day. Arrowtown is a nice small quaint town with a historical section close by. Motels were quite a bit less expensive and we liked it better than Queenstown which was very touristy and busy. If you will be driving and don't mind driving to Queenstown that might be an option to consider.

I highly recommend all of the following (all well within your budget last time I checked)

The Old Schoolhouse Cottage (located 30 minutes from Nelson, 15 minutes from Motueka - a good base for Abel Tasman)

http://lodgings.co.nz/schoolhouse.html

The Blue Moon (located 50 minutes from Nelson in Riwaka, Motueka)

www.thebluemoon.co.nz/

Almyra Villa (located in Mapua, between Nelson and Motueka)

www.almyra.co.nz/

Villa Del Lago (Queenstown)

www.villadellago.co.nz/

The Bella Vista Motel chain which was mentioned previously is also a good option, but in our experience their rooms can be a bit on the small side, so if that's an issue for you, suggest you request one of their larger rooms.

We stayed at the Bella Vista in Queenstown (among others) and found it very convenient - on a quiet street, yet walking distance to town.

Forgot to mention, the above places aren't hotels per se, but good lodging options (and unique to NZ).

Thank you everybody for your accommodation suggestions and ideas. I will look these up and finish bboking the rest of our nights.