Milford Sound Lodge & Pio Pio Cafe

It was an amazing stay at the lodge, with the stream just by your side. The staff were friendly, and as their kitchen was under repair, they delivered our dinner to our room. Food was amazing, and they delivered regardless rain or shine. They were all so friendly and welcoming. The place is beautiful! And even on rainy days when you cant do any activities, you wont feel any regret just being in the chalet and enjoying the view that you will never ever forget.

MSL is a fantastic place to stay if and once you get to the lodge. However, MSL’s management do the bare minimum in terms of notifying its guests about the road conditions leading into Milford Sound; something one would have thought would be of paramount importance.

To get to MSL one has to pass through the Homer tunnel - the lodge is only around 20-25 minutes drive after passing the tunnel. In Summer (we did the drive to MSL on 16 Dec 2023), I didn’t expect there to be any issues with using the tunnel at any hour of the day (unlike in winter when perhaps snow and inclement weather would call for one to check the road conditions leading into Milford Sound beforehand).

We (my girlfriend and I) flew over 10 hours from Hong Kong to get to Queenstown and picked up our rental car at around 3: 30pm. Our destination was MSL for the first night and we embarked upon our long drive. We arrived at the entrance to the Homer tunnel at around 8: 30pm only to find that the road was closed. It was only then that we found out, to our horror, that the tunnel was closed for works between 8pm-6am and that this had been the case for the previous few weeks. We managed to call a staff at MSL who told us there was an email sent to me to inform me of the road works and that there was nothing that could be done, apart from taking to the road workers. After much begging and pleading our case, the road works crew shifted the crane and other road blocks to let us through - the alternative would have been a long 1.5 hour drive back to Te Anau in the dark which would have broken us.

When we arrived at MSL, I found in my junk mail inbox an email sent from MSL at 7: 36am NZ time on the day of our arrival re the road works (when we were still in the air over Australia). The email before that from MSL was a general welcome email sent a few days before arrival containing boiler plate messages including as the 6th bullet point “Please remember to check the road conditions before setting off on your journey”. The preceding 5th bullet point said “There is an emergency phone and late arrivals information at the entrance to the main reception building, which will be available throughout your stay to contact the duty manager (other contact options are available to you throughout your stay). ” There was no mention of the road works which according to the workers had been ongoing.

I brought up this shocking lack of communication to the manager on duty the next morning but received a nonchalant reply along the lines that they had done the best they could and according to him the road conditions change daily so the best they could do was to send out daily reminder emails. This is all they could do and care to do for a luxury hotel that charges their guests commensurately. When I emailed the manager later to see if a discount could be offered on the in-room dinner package as a gesture of good-will from MSL for our unpleasant arrival journey, the reply via email was that no discount would be provided and I quote:

“…
To get back to your troublesome journey yesterday, we have never had issues with our road closure notification system before.
There are several electronic road signs from Queenstown to Milford Sound, warning about the closures and in your initial confirmation email it states to check the road report the day prior, plus the email on the day of.

We are sorry this has inconvenienced you and tainted your trip, but we are comfortable we have followed all procedures to let you know of the Milford Road status. We hope everything else with your stay is up to standard. ”

So, in short, MSL is a great place to stay if and once you get you the lodge (the room, views and quality of food etc were all top notch). But the lack of communication regarding the road works was utterly shocking and unacceptable and the response from MSL’s management to our predicament was apathetic and unbecoming of a luxury hotel.

I would not recommend MSL to my family and friends and would not stay there again.

Aside from the sandflies milford sound was perfect and this lodge nestled in the middle of nature. Beautiful mountain and riverside view from the chalet we had and amazing food both nights from the restaurant - even accommodated our change from dining in to room service. Wish there was a cooked breakfast as well but the muesli and croissant was lovely. They even let us borrow the phone to make an urgent phone call and looked into booking our helicopter flight and booked our wonderful 3 hour scenic cruise with a picnic lunch which was oe of the highlights of our trip. Highly recommend staying here, the hot chocolate is also fantastic! Bring sandfly repellent though.

This is a magical place to stay. The mountain / river / waterfall views from the rooms are incredible - we sat and watched / listened to it for hours. Food was also great at the Pio Pio restaurant - make sure to book for dinner as it gets busy but well worth it. Brilliant location if you plan on going for a cruise / kayaking.

We enjoyed having a beer and fries here in the cafe, coffee and tea available too. Classy looking restaurant but needs a booking.

Nice campingsite, but at dinnertime the kitchen was crowded and it was a long wait for one of the two laundry machines to be free. The kitchen is too small for that many campers and we had to wait a bit to be able to use it in the evening. No ovens. Also when we were there there were 10 kids in the dining area, some of them watching TV or shows on the phone of their parents or playing loudly. Obviously the Lodge can't do anything against this but it was a bit annoying the first night. The second night there were no kids and we had a nice and peaceful night in the dining area, which is by the way very comfortable furnished with couches.
The showers and toilets very quite clean and the pressure was really good in the cabins. There were enough of them so you didn't have to wait. The area is obviously beautiful! The staff was also very friendly and helpful! We would come back even though its a bit more expensive than other campsites.

Stayed here in a campervan and were overall satisfied with our stay. Parking is spacious and private with hedging between each spot, as well as water for each one. However, don't expect a much a view from the campervan spots, as they are situated in the trees! Kitchen and common area were very nice, however frustratingly these are the only areas you can get a wifi connection. It was somewhat souring that as well as this, only 500mb was free considering the price you pay, but understandable given the location and lack of competition. Other than this, facilities were really good, great showers and kitchen area.

Absolutely the best place we stayed in New Zealand! The mountain view chalets are gorgeous; you can hear the waterfalls from the outdoor picnic area. The service was exceptional. The lodge arranged for a shuttle to and from the Deep Water Basin dock (for our day hike) as well as the airport. They also brought us a delicious and very large breakfast. Would 100% recommend!

Pio Pio Cafe had delicious food with great vegetarian options.

We had dinner at the Pio Pio restaurant and loved it! It is the only restaurant in Milford Sound, and it is definitely worth a visit. Excellent service and divine food.

Loved our stay here. The staff is so friendly and kind; we loved chatting with all of them. The mountain view chalets have some of the most breathtaking views; I can't think of many places where you get views like this from your room. We had 100-ft falls plunging down the mountainsides, a river running course in front of the chalet, and Kaka, Keas, and shelducks flying around. A Kea even came to visit us outside our patio!

The breakfast included is *delicious*; the croissants, the muffins.etc.were all amazing.

This is the perfect place to treat yourself to.

This is the best accommodation I've ever stayed in. It's expensive but it's special. The views are spectacular. I didn't want to go anywhere, just wanted to sit outside my room and look at the fabulous vista.

The rooms are well furnished, tasteful and with all conveniences.

The gentleman at reception was so warm and welcoming upon arrival! He gave us all the info we needed and made us feel at home. And also the gentleman with the cool accent who drive us to the ferry terminal was so lovely it was refreshing:) we absolutely loved our accommodation and only wished we were staying longer! Breakfast was super yummy too, we can't wait to come back again one day the best place we have stayed easily

Stayed there in our camper. Absolutely magical, stunning location. Awesome facilities, want to go back there.

We stayed for 1 night in our campervan. The food from their restaurant was average; the only dish we liked wad the lamb ribs. The main facility was disappointed, they don't even have hairdryer. They are the only accommodation in Milford Sound, so no other options.

3 stunning nights in Milford. Felt we got awesome value for money in our 2 bdrm chalet with an online 2+night deal. Super roomy for family of 5. Included breakfast was delish (did us for lunch as well!). The little things are done so well.
Staff are all just lovely.
A longer stay can defintely be done and kids kept busy for a couple days if you head down to the commercial fishing boat wharf and take a look at the resident 7giller sharks that like to visit. (If you have bait, even better!)
One of the Lodge staff gave us directions on where to find the local glow worm cave (bush whacking in the dark required! Take a torch!) Kids also just occupied themselves nicely, making a dam and catching cockabillies at the creek below the lodge.
We took food in to cook dinner in the communal kitchen for 2 of the nights. We dined at the restaurant on the last night. Beautiful food, great service.
For Kiwi families that want to make the most of their back yard while the roads are quiet - Milford is simply stunning. Can honestly say it was up there with one of our best family holidays.
Thank you Milford Lodge!

Stayed in our campervan. Amazing location. Simply beautiful. Great facilities clean and tidy. Watch out for the sandflies.

Everyone has to have vaccine pass including powered sites and the rapid test negative result that is acceptable for flights and ferry is not acceptable to their site.in other words, they don't accept somebody that is proving to be negative Covid-19, and they let everyone that has a vaccine pass and can carry the virus everywhere.

Loved my stay at the lodge. The staff were fantastic, every one of them were kind and helpful. The food portions are very generous, and may be the best in the township (to be fair it is a very small town hahaha). The views from the riverside chalet are stunning, especially when the rain fills the waterfalls. I'd like to visit again in the winter to see those mountains topped with snow.

Put us in disabled room
Poor quality breakfast and lunch
Did not service room at all due to ‘health and safety assessment

The Lodge is sited superbly close to all the Milford Sound attractions. The coffee was marvelous, staff were particularly friendly with outstanding service. Excellent maps and weather information - just what you need in an outdoor place like this. Excellent facilities - thoughtfully designed and well maintained made the cost absolutely worthwhile. We would stay here again.