Distinction Mackenzie Country Hotel

This was one of my favourite hotels on our New Zealand land tour. I had a ground floor room so no issues with no lift, the room was huge with a comfortable bed and couch. The shower was amazing. Also had a little balcony that looked out onto green space at the back of the hotel which was a nice bonus (although a new chair or at least a cushion or cover would be handy)

Nice 10 minute walk into town

Looks very recently refurbished and mostly very nice and fresh, decent size room, nice new bathroom, great views out over the park and mountains, good buffet for the group in the evening. No lift and only one hard working little girl to help with getting cases upstairs, no ironing board and only one manky chair on the patio, but overall we liked it a lot.

Entering one's room at the Distinction is a pleasant sensation. It is large and seemingly well appointed. There is a good set of power points for those bringing laptops or other equipment that needs them. Then you realise that the lighting is poor and the funny bedside lights don't quite do the job. The bed was fine.
The dining experience is however a very low point. The service was below standard and the food itself poor. Luckily there are other food outlets in the town. Use them!

It seemed strange not having sky and the sliding door on the room would not lock, but being upstairs it didn't really matter. The staff were brilliant and helpfull

The staff are great but the place is getting a bit tired. My room was single glazed and it was -4 degrees. Heat was supplied by a very noisy fan heater.

Great stay. Excellent staff. Clean rooms. Was in standard (previously deluxe rooms but now standard as they are now renovating older rooms) great stay. Beds were comfy kids loved it. Traveled with my two kids who absolutely loved the breakfast buffet. $34 and adult $17 per child well worth it. Plenty of options for those fussy children.

We stayed here for a quick sleep break. The room was spacious, the food was decent, and there was a lovely lounge/common area to relax, read a book, or use the iPad. The staff were friendly and welcoming.

The staff were friendly, loved the town.
The hotel is completely over priced and the beds are so old and dipped in the middle.

Quick

A little dated in the room I was in but on the whole it was good
A bit a shower water pressure would be appreciated in their renovations

The bathrooms need desperately updating. The fridge set to freezing so milk was frozen solid.

Nice exterior with stripe stone built. But worn out room interior and carpets. Our bathroom had a very bad smell. When reported, I was informed that the hotel is fully booked and we can switch to a different room next day. Receptionist came up and sprayed the bathroom with air freshener, which somewhat helped. But no one reached out and assisted to change the room next day. Only thing which can be appreciated was the decent breakfast buffet.

Great weekend

We stayed at the hotel in February 2025 during our holiday to South Island, The hotel offers comfortable accommodation with breakfast buffet, which is very handy for travellers especially those plan to hike in Mt Cook. Hotel staff were friendly. We were very lucky to have their Duty Manager, Mr C. James, to welcome us upon checkin. There were some issues with the arrangement of beds in our room; Mr James investigated the issues and resolved the matter quickly for us. Thanks to Mr James' great customer service, we were able to rest well after whole day outings.
We were glad to have visited Twizel, and thanks for the great memory of Distinction Mackenzie Twizel!

Our second time staying here on our NZ trip and just as enjoyable as the first. Lovely jig, older style hotel with plenty of room. Nice breakout areas to have a read, look at the sights or have a quiet drink. Room was spacious, very comfortable and breakfast buffet included in accommodation. Good Al a carte menu or buffet for dinner. Another great place to stay and extremely friendly and helpful staff.

The room was clean but no elevators, I have to carry my luggage to upstairs was not good.

On the way to Queenstown this is a perfect stay. Roomy, all the amenities. Rooms are big and the staff friendly. Good buffet option for dinner and breakfast is included. (Buffet). Place is quiet and relaxing. Has a couple of breakout rooms and a very comfortable reading room. Couldn’t fault this place. Feel really rested after a good night.

Comfortable and warm

Comfortable, clean. Good place to stay if visiting Mt Cook.

Bar and restaurant leaves a lot to be desired.
The dinner buffer was ok but not for $61 ....
Captive market and milking that.....