Waiwera Shame on You - A personal note!

I am upset with Waiwera Thermal Spa today.  We as Rodney residents are members at Waiwera in fact we have just renewed our membership.  I am now wishing I hadn't due to the new 'rule changes' brought in this week.  I might add that these changes have outraged everyone but it seems that Waiwera are staying silent, their facebook page is awash with negativity and yet no word from them.

Their only contact with the public so far is this message :-

Announcement

Dear valued customers of Waiwera Thermal Resort,

Please note that as of 1st February 2012 Waiwera Thermal Resort will no longer permit food or beverages to be brought onto the premises. Visitors with special dietary needs, including allergies, infants and baby food will be exempt at the discretion of Resort staff.

This decision is based on usual international practice within the industry where the facilities are able to provide food and beverage options for their visitors. Our aim is to provide a better and cleaner look throughout the complex, with food and beverages consumed within the café, kiosk or designated outdoor picnic areas. At these locations, regular maintenance and service from our staff ensure that the resort pools and grounds are kept cleaner and more hygienic. BBQ and parties that are pre-booked can still be self-catered at the indoor or outdoor shaded areas where tables are located further away from the pools.

Food and beverages are available from our Waiwera Cafe and the Native Chef Kiosk. We are extending our menu to include breakfasts, lunches, kids’ menus and snacks with vegetarian options. We will also provide value meals and combo offers for all budgets and special food packages for larger groups.

Speak to our friendly team for more information or to make a booking on 09 427 8800.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause as we work further to improve our services to provide a better experience for all our Resort visitors.

Thank you,

Waiwera Thermal Resort Management

 It sounds like me another company getting greedy!! For me speaking as a single Mum of two girls it already costs me $23.  When we go we make a day of it, I pack a healthy picnic, we fill our bottles up from our tap with good old water and truly make a day of it.  To buy our supplies from Waiwera....hmmm let me see well for a start I don't feed my kids any of the items on the kids menu Hot Dog and chips Six chicken nuggets and chips Cheese burger and chips Battered fish and chips hardly healthy eating is it!!! so that's out, so let's go with a salad ($14.50) and two rounds of sandwiches, fruit (do they sell fruit?) and a couple of litres of water.

Well they don't appear to do sandwiches or fruit mentioned so you are talking $20 a pizza ( They are very yummy pizzas! We do have a treat sometimes!!) , $11.50 for a Bacon roll with chips.  If we stay there all day it will cost a small fortune for three of us, plus beverages.  I reckon we would be lucky to have change from $100 !!  Waiwera shame on you, you are supposed to be a family attraction a place where families have enjoyed bringing picnics for years.  I don't accept your 'It's about hygiene' excuse when you can hire a bbq area for $80 yes that's right folks $80!!  Explain to me how that is different?  My girls and I sit on the grass on our picnic blanket in the sunshine and enjoy our lunch.  I pack them healthy treats and now instead the only way we can come is to be forced to buy my children unhealthy greasy food (that incidentally you have to wait ages for!!!) There is not enough choice unless you love chips which our lifestyle doesn't!!!

NZ has one of the highest children's obesity rates in the World!

 If you have to bring in ridiculous rules like this in then please, please address your menus.  You need options for kids that don't involve chips, chips, burgers, more burgers and more chips!!!    Kids do eat other food you know!  Take the Walnut Cottage or the Library Cafe as excellent examples of this.  They offer so many options for children and they offer gluten, dairy and egg free products - fruit plates, sandwiches, humous & fresh veges - just a few examples!  You also need to make it affordable for families, we simply don't have money to chuck around these days. It is such an expensive day trip already and for many you have now made it impossible.

 I wouldn't even mind so much if Waiwera was making an effort to clean up the place but all you seem to have done so far is changed the menus and restaurants.  We still can't see the movies in the movie pool, the screen is still dreadful!  The changing rooms still have awful showers and toilets that are yuk!  The pools need painting the pathways need repairing and a do up!!  Your website makes it look like paradise and I hope that's what you are working towards.  We came last weekend and the woman on the lilo....yeah right!!  There were so many people there it was everything we could do just to find a space to get into a pool let alone lie on a lilo with a sunhat asleep!!!!  Spruce the place up and maybe people would accept changes like this at the moment we feel like we are just having the mickey taken out of us!! 

Get Creative and offer our kids healthy options!

We don't always bring a picnic sometimes we do have a treat and eat with you.  Your pizzas are a delight with a nice choice of toppings and we always go home with our special treat an icecream.  I simply don't like having our choice taking away from us!  

 Well rant over, I just hope Waiwera listens to the people who have supported them for years.  Who trundle from all over New Zealand to spend the day with you.   Come on Waiwera we love you but come on this simply isn't right!!!

Think it might be time to try out one of the other facilities apparently Parakai Springs does a Rodney pass!!  Might be time to make the move folks! 

 Have a nice day folks!

Kate and 2 very disgruntled little girls Charlotte and Rosie x