I booked this room late in the day due to my hostel being unsafe. My reservation was accepted online AFTER the desk hours and a phone number given to call to be let in to the motel upon my arrival.
When I arrived at 11:30 pm the office was closed (which was to be expected) but no one answered the after hours number. I contacted the Hotels.com help line and they were very helpful and quickly connected with the hotel owner, Margarette, and asked her to please meet me for my room. At this point it was midnight. The owner did meet me and her behavior was rude, angry, and unprofessional. She met me with "Do you have any idea what time it is??" After trying kindly to explain my situation, she cut me off and read me the riot act which included how I as a foreigner needed "to learn how NZ works", how I "inconvenienced her", how this was "never going to happen again", etc. Bear in mind I was soaking wet from the rain and was crying from the scary event at my hostel. She showed zero kindness and basic human decency.
Why would the motel accept and process my payment after the desk hours if they had no intention of letting me into the room after hours? Simply refuse the booking if you cannot meet the after hours needs of guests.
Owning and running a motel means that sometimes travelers have unexpected situations. My late arrival was in no way malicious or entitled and I tried to meet her with gratitude and had my head bit off.
Poor reflection of the usual kind Kiwi spirit :/