I was very pleasantly surprise by this hotel although in some ways it is something of a contradiction. It has been acquired by Novotel and will undergo a name change when the hotel has been brought up to Novotel standards. In other words thre is only one way this hotel is going standards wise and that is up. I had the friendliest and most helpful check in of any in NZ. I had a one bedroomed apartment and from where I had parked the easiest way to access it was up the fire escape. Alternatively you walk along a corridor open to the elements! However it was an absolutely fantastic apartment - 310. It seems to have been added on to the building and the receptionist said it had recently been refurbed. A huge living area, about 4 times the size of a normal hotel room. Had a nice kitchen with fridge/freezer & washing machine /dryer. & microwave. Also a substantial table & 4 leather chairs. There were 2 three seater settees and a large LCD Samsung television mounted on the wall that has ALL the Sky channels as opposed to the usual 5 that you only get in most NZ hotels. Additonally there were TWO balconies one overlooked the swimming pool. A large bedroom was just round the corner and separated from the living area by a sliding door. A nice bathroom but no bath but it did have a heated floor. A nice bar looks out onto the swimming pool and you can have a meal /drink at one of the outdoor tables near the pool which I did. The restaurant itself is rather small, particularly as I understand the hotel is having more rooms added. Breakfast was ok in there. The hotel does have coach parties so accessing the restaurant for a meal isn't always that easy. I only had a quick glance in the standard rooms but they looked quite ok to me- most if not all overlook the pool and they are also going to be re-furbed. The hotel has a decent sized car park round the side although it could do with being tarmaced. The Yacht Club is very central- only a few minutes walk to foreshore. Picton much to my surprise is a very picturesque town and well worth staying for a few days to visit the Marlborough Sounds - boat trips etc and the wineries. I only thought of it as the Interislander port but really it is a little gem. As for the Yacht Club I would certainly stay there again- think it is going to be re-named Novotel, Marlborough Sounds.

Picton is a lovely town, not many hotels. The Yacht Club is a Motel type hotel with a dining room to match. The shower in our bathroom was too powerful for the plastic curtain surrounding the enclosure and water poured over the floor around the toilet pan every time we used it. the hotel was aware of the problem and provided extra towels on request to mop up the mess. Not impressed at all.