Date:  03 July 2017

The Department of Conservation was saddened to learn a group of eager Lions fans were unable to access the Te Kopi Homestead in the Wairarapa on Friday night because their booking was incomplete.

When a DOC property like Te Kopi is booked, an email is sent outlining the further steps guests must take to ensure access to the property. This email was sent to the Lions group when they made their booking on Thursday evening.

Unfortunately, as in this instance, when the outlined steps aren’t followed, the accommodation is not accessible.

Our National Visitor Centre was open during office hours on Friday and Saturday, but the busy staff didn’t receive any calls about this issue. However, the team are strict about checking voicemail messages and emails, and it was via an email from Booking.com the issue came to light.

DOC’s website, Booking.com and Google maps all say the property is over 100km from Wellington City.

After learning about the events which led to the Lions fans booking Te Kopi, it’s clear the group made their booking with us under unusual circumstances, so it’s understandable they missed the final confirmation steps and were unable to access the property.

The Department is sympathetic to this, so as a gesture of goodwill, will overlook the group’s confirmation error and won’t charge them for the accommodation. The Department has emailed the group to let them know this.

Ultimately, the Department is glad the group had somewhere to stay and were able to enjoy the rugby. The generosity of the Combined Taxi staff member who took them in was a heart-warming read.

We hope the fans enjoyed their time in New Zealand, and return home with lots of great yarns about their time here. 

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