New Zealand's newest luxury hot springs, owned, developed & run by Maori, any good? | Wai Ariki, Rotorua

I was coincidentally near Rotorua last weekend and saw the news about a new hot spring, so I went over to check out what the buzz is all about.

Wai Ariki, is a Maori (indigenous) owned, developed and most of their staff are Maori origin (according to local news sources).

Upon arriving before 8pm, the parking lot was near empty with only a dozen cars or so parked. I walked through the beautifully open plan layout of the brand spanking new entrance with the Maori statues symbolising the land and experience being of a local origin.

Upon entering, there were 2 receptionists working and one of them greeted me. I saw 2 different plans that are of interest but did not fully understand what may be involved, she explains what you will encounter during your experience and how long you will be spending within each of those experiences.

The cheapest option is the Restorative Journey which includes a sauna, spa pool and mud bath experience. It takes around 90 minutes in total and costs $110 (an opening discount), which is fairly steep compared to other places and will only make it more unaffordable when their discount ends.

After changing at an empty locker room (locker, towel and robe are available for hire at an additional cost), I walked to the beginning of the "restorative journey" experience. A staff showed me a public cubicle to store my items given I did not hire a locker, and then began with the story of the significance of hot springs to the Maori ancestors, from the building architecture to each step of the experience.

I was then led to the "cleansing" process, an automated washing head from above started pumping soap over me which blinded me and I started walking and have no clue where I was supposed to stop until I found water pouring over me, and I thought that was a bit of a long walk, and then I looked back to find mist coming down in between which I missed, and after that nice warm cleanse, the last step was a cold rinse which in many cultures where hot springs are prominent will attest to the benefits of cold wash/plunge/bath, but in a middle of a winter evening, yikes, and it did not help that the area is basically outdoor.

First up is to the sauna room, he explains the benefit of each sauna and also the ice cold ankle deep water to cool down after the session, and an ice room where you can rub shaved ice to pressure points and wash it down with a bucket of ice cold water. I was given a time of around 20 minutes to explore the sauna area. I tried all 3 different saunas and each time I finish off with the walk around the cold water, it just gets colder each time. I ended with the shaved ice rub, I didn't go crazy and just rub a tiny amount to cool myself down after the sauna session. The entire time I was there I did not encounter anyone else in the same room as me, there was another group that came after me but they were 2 rooms behind me and they decided to skip to the spa pool a short time later. By the time I left the sauna area, a new group had just arrived.

The next area is the spa pool, there are 4 warm/hot pools and 1 cold pool, again he explains what they are and I was given 45 minutes to experience that. I started at the Alkaline pool, the water was more lukewarm which it may be warmer but it did not help when you're facing directly out to the openness and the large ceiling fan is blowing on you. The second pool might be the warmest I've experienced (I missed the last pool so I can't confirm), if anyone wishes to cool down from that the cold pool is built right within the same pool, only separated by a wall to stop the mixing of water of course, which I did not want to try given how cold it was already.

The last pool I tried was the massaging pool, they have 2 different massage areas, the first is a huge sort of waterfall like massage experience, and the second is more of a bed with water bubbles blowing from the seat so you get the full back massage. The water temperature in this pool is about the same as the first pool so coming off the warmer pool it felt colder and definitely not the most relaxing. The last pool that I missed is actually an aromatherapy pool with kawakawa and koromiko plants in it. This pool is actually somewhat hidden opposite the 2nd pool if you do not pay attention.

Next to the aromatherapy pool will be the mud bath experience. As there were people in the aromatherapy pool I decided to do the mud bath first but it was a mistake as you will not be allowed back to the pool once you have started the mud bath due to residue of mud within your body. The staff hand over a bowl of mud and direct me to a bed, I applied the mud over my body and lay on the lukewarm bed next to the entrance which feels like polar air blasting into the room every time someone goes in and out. After about 10 minutes when the mud had hardened, I was led to the final experience which is the mist room, this will dissolve the mud on the body and there's a big round area for sitting or laying, whichever you prefer. Given I had the whole place to myself I laid there for a good period of time and as the other group of people was led in, I wash myself off with the dozens of shower heads installed there. Some people may only have a quick rinse so there's another shower room next to the mist room for a more proper rinse off before going back to the locker room.

The locker room has about a dozen open showers and 4 private shower booths. Given that I did not book any overnight accommodation, I will be having my shower there, which is fine but it annoys the life out of me that they have installed these water-saving buttons so you have to press it every 10 seconds to get water flowing which doesn't make any sense and since there's staff patrolling the area frequently, I doubt that water will be wasted if someone decides to leave the water running. Imagine having to press the button 6 times or more every minute to have a shower, you are spending more time pressing than actually washing yourself off properly so you will probably be wasting more water than saving it. The shower area has body wash, shampoo and conditioner provided, which is all well and good, but they have no hair dryer in the men's room, but they do in the women's? Why are they letting people wash their hair and then not allowing them to dry it off then? It makes absolutely no sense and it's one that I strongly criticize about, especially if they are charging these sorts of prices. I am not expecting them to provide Dyson hairdryers, but something basic that does the job is good enough, as long as we have access to one and not having to leave with a soaking wet head.

If you are interested in the other section, where they claimed to limit the number of people and give you more privacy, that's the sanctuary zone which is on the other side of the building and that's where you can have a private bath or choose the twilight bath, a stargazing pool experience which the staff said a 60 minutes full body massage is included but not stated on their website so I'm not sure if that's part of the package for the twilight bathing or an add on or an entirely different package.

So should you try out this brand new luxury hot springs experience that is very different to the other hot springs? For one it is surrounded and built on the foundation of the Maori culture, so that's a unique experience in itself. I feel like during my time there, I did not get to fully enjoy or experience each area in a relaxing way given I was more focused on the time limit and wanting to get to do everything, and then ended up missing one of the last pool which I feel like the staff could have more initiative and tell me that I cannot return once I start the mud experience, or if they have noticed that I haven't done all the pools, they should confirm that I am skipping one or more of the pools since there's not going to be a way to return. Of course the pet peeve I have is the lack of hair dryers in the locker room which is non-sensical and also discriminating in a way, if they install it in the women's area then there's no reason as to why they did not think the men should not have access to it. I would probably give it a try once when the price is discounted, but not if I have to pay the full price for it as I do think that with the time limit and the price set, it doesn't allow me to fully soak in the experience and it is very expensive for a teaser.