What's the difference between a "Bed and Breakfast" and a full service Hotel?
AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™ is a Bed and Breakfast Guest House (B&B) in Nelson city centre - handy for Tahunanui Beach, Restaurants, Founders Park and the 3 National Parks of Abel Tasman, Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes in the `Top of the South' Island of New Zealand (NZ).

Budget Prices

"European destinations have become so expensive lately that hotel prices look like double the US rates. We'll get over the sticker shock by paying half those prices at our charming, selected London B&Bs."

New Zealand in general, and Nelson in particular, has excellent value Motels and many of them have kitchenettes where you can prepare your own meals and some of them also have swimming pools.
We have no pool - but with the fabulous Tahunanui beach close to us, who wants to suck chlorine?

We will cook for you. Even if you value our breakfasts at $5 less than the going rate we still beat all of Nelson's Motel prices - and they don't offer air-conditioning or a laundry service like we do.

"...These properties are private residences in some of the best locations at rates much lower than you would expect!... These prices are fully inclusive of breakfast, applicable taxes and service charges."

If you think you've found better value in Nelson's city centre, please let us know because we like to be ultra competitive.

Local Knowledge

"...At our B&B's you will also enjoy the social and cultural benefits of meeting charming hosts willing to share their local knowledge with you. This is what sets London B and B apart from package tours or just "somewhere to rest your head". It's like having a personal guide to the city included in the price!"

Both Anne and Adam were born and raised right here in Nelson. Our Irish and Scots relatives were some of the first European settlers in Nelson and arrived on the barque Bombay on Friday, 12th December 1842. Our pacific island and Māori relatives arrived five hundred years and more before that.

Comfortable Lodgings

"...To make your stay as comfortable as possible, you should consider some of the differences between expensive full service hotels and private family homes that offer B&B in the original European style... Bed & Breakfasts are not the same as in the U.S., where B&Bs have become increasingly associated with the country inn type of accommodation, with housekeepers, staff and often with an in-house restaurant. In the U.K.these are known as country house hotels. The European B&B residences are private family homes, often older properties, sometimes several hundred years old, and consequently may have smaller rooms than you are used to at home or in modern hotels..."

Built in 1897, Amber House is pretty young by European standards but is definitely one of the older homes in Nelson which is, itself, the oldest city in the South Island (or Mainland) of New Zealand.

However, none of our rooms are tiny, with ceilings more than eleven feet high downstairs and the Balcony Suite measures more than 468 square feet in area.

It is our family that will look after you (with some help at busier periods).

"...Other features you should not expect are air conditioning or elevators unless they are specifically mentioned. You will find that our top-rated homes have attached "en-suite" bathrooms, however at a number of homes the private bathrooms may be adjacent to the bedrooms or a few steps away along the hall..."

Our Blue, Gold and Rose Rooms, together with the Balcony Suite are air-conditioned with reverse cycle heat pumps.
All of our accommodation is en suite.
Our Balcony Suite, Blue, Gold and Green Rooms also have German style, uPVC double glazing (with argon gas filling the 16mm gap) for extra sound proofing (and low emissivity glass) to reduce our carbon footprint.

We have no elevators (or "lifts" as we say in New Zealand) but the strongest family member will carry your bags upstairs if you are in the Balcony Suite, Blue or Gold Rooms.

Agree your arrival time

"...An obvious but often overlooked difference between hotels and staying at private family homes, is that of service; there is no desk clerk on duty to await your arrival, so it is vital that the family knows what time to expect you, as they have daily family business to attend to. The worst possible way to start your visit is to arrive unexpectedly and find no-one at home to greet you...."
Now you know why we ask you for your anticipated arrival time together with your mobile or cellular 'phone number. If we have those details, if our plans or yours suddenly change we can then communicate. There are many areas of poor cellular reception in New Zealand but SMS or text messages can often get through where voice calls will fail - it only takes a few seconds of coverage as you crest a pass or hilltop for our text to reach you. Additionally - and unlike receiving voice calls - when travelling overseas, you will not usually be charged roaming charges for receiving a text message from us or anyone else. Please be aware, though, that you should not just hit the "reply" button as our SMS text messages are sent from a bulk service provider in Ireland. Please instead manually reply to the phone number listed in the message you receive from us!

Security

"...You will be given a key to their home and this is a courtesy that should be respected. So if you return late at night, please be considerate of other guests and the host family..."

The Nelson Tasman police district has the lowest crime rate in New Zealand, but burglaries and thefts still occur. Too frequently thieves target the larger motels and camp grounds because they can mingle unobserved and unremarked. They know that windows will be left open in hot weather (because few Nelson motels have air conditioning) and that visitors often carry high value items like video cameras and jewelry.
Amber House has never had a theft or burglary and, since we don't book more than four guests into our own home at one time, all comings and goings are noted. We don't have a swinging "Bed and Breakfast" sign outside to advertise our guests as a target.

We will charge a refundable cash deposit of $20 for each set of keys. Some folks don't like this but please consider the alternatives. Since moving to this "cash incentive to remember" we have not had one set of keys go missing when we charged this small memory incentive. On the one recent occasion that we did not charge the key deposit, (entirely by coincidence?), the keys ended up in Wellington. If the keys do go missing, it is not just the room key that has gone missing but the key to our home's front door too.
To replace the front door lock and room door barrels costs us at least $200 per shot. The alternative to levying this entirely refundable jog to your memory, would be to add $10 per night to everyone's room price. We've decided to keep our prices as low as we can instead.

Our wooden front door (and the original glass still in it) is more than 114 years old so please do not slam it like a car door - if you slam it, the door just bounces out of the wooden frame and wakes everyone up!

Service

"...The rooms are regularly serviced, varying from home to home, but there is no "room service". You are staying "en famille", not at a full service hotel..."

Actually, we do offer room service.

Room service is available at no extra charge to guests staying in the Balcony Suite. If you've paid the Balcony Suite tariff and wish to have your breakfast served al fresco on the East balcony so that you can see the sun rise over the Centre of New Zealand - just say the word.

Balcony Suite guests can have whatever they want cooked for their breakfast and have it brought either to their door or served on one of their balconies for no additional charge.

Other guests eat breakfast in the dining room but can order (for a moderate charge) other meals and snacks cooked and served at their convenience.

Ring the "School Bell" if you need us
and we're not visible, as it can be heard all the way out to the back of the section 200 feet away.
(The more technically literate and/or bashful could try pressing the small button at the extreme lower right hand corner of the cordless phone in their bedroom [below the # key and marked "INT"] and then immediately afterwards, the number 0 or 1 or 2 and they'll be connected to the upstairs family office, the kitchen and Anne's bedroom, respectively.)
Mila's cellular number is 021-202 4961.

We'll try and respect your privacy and will try and come into your rooms to empty the waste-paper basket, etc while you are out during the day - unless, of course, you tell us not to.

Our Quirks

It would be a good idea to hang your towels out to dry on the rotary drying frame in the back garden first thing in the morning as the sunny Nelson climate usually ensures they'll be bone dry within a couple of hours.
[Less environmental stress than switching the heated towel rail on, eh? Kiwis value their "clean and green" image so we also ask that you turn off your lights, TV, stereo and airconditioning unit or heater when you go out.
Please do NOT switch off our computer (or close the lid of the laptop supplied in the Blue Room or it will enter hibernation mode) or then we'll have to go and get George to enter several different Broadband passwords...]
We'll probably take both towels and your washing back to your room if you forget...Ask us for beach towels if that's where you're going.

We don't usually turn down beds unless you are physically handicapped and will change the bed linen every 3 or 4 days.
If you do have an accident and need bed linen changing earlier, don't hesitate to say!

We don't allow guests to use our front loading automatic washing machine as the various dials and buttons can be complicated to explain to guests and they would not be covered by our insurance. If you do need more than just a few items washed with our own load, we charge similar prices to a service wash in a launderette: $5 per washing machine load.
You'll need to hang your items on the rotary washing line and take them down again yourself unless you bribe us with winsome words and pleasing smiles or recipes (grin). We charge $12 dollars per hour (or part) of dryer time if you need to be wasteful and use our electric dryer rather than the rotary clothes line.

We keep the fruit bowl and biscuit jar well stocked in the guests' dining room so just help yourself. In summer you can also pick your own strawberries and cherry tomatoes in the back garden on the way back from bringing in your towels or washing... We don't do ironing unless you're going to a wedding or special occasion (20 dollars per hour or part) but can provide you with a steam iron and board and mending materials.

"...The real plus on the service side, is that you will be staying with hosts who really know their neighborhood and can give you the best independent advice about places to eat, shop and visit, unlike hotel staff who don't always live locally and don't know about these things or perhaps get some kind of kick-back for referrals. Wouldn't it be great having your own local source of up-to-the-minute insider information about what's going on? Your hosts can give you useful nuggets of information, such as the many delightful specialty shops...(and) help you make the most of your trip, when time is at a premium.

We would rather be modest and let our Guest Book speak for that aspect.

We would like to close by mentioning our beds and our breakfasts.
Our beds are comfortable and will ensure you get a good night's sleep. Both the Blue and Rose Rooms have orthopaedic mattresses and guests staying in those two rooms should ensure that they set the alarm clock radio if they have an early start. They should also not forget to tell us the previous afternoon or early evening what they would like cooked the next morning since, within reason, we'll serve guests booked into the Blue and Rose Rooms whatever they fancy for breakfast.

What is a bed and breakfast in Canada? What rules apply?

What is a bed and breakfast in Australia? (only joking...)

What's a B&B like in Serbia? (still only joking...)

What's wrong with tourism in Nelson? (definitely not a joke.)(large pdf)

Laws, Regulations and requirements affecting B&B providers in New Zealand(pdf)

How to annoy your hosts
( - especially for "scrap_8" from Toronto)

Clearly, the simplest and best way to annoy your hosts is to breach their published policies, but there are other ways to quickly achieve the same result. Most of the things that annoy hosts are simple discourtesies and thoughtlessness and can be avoided by considering things from your hosts' point of view and that of fellow guests.
Most guests choose to stay in B&B's on the basis that they should be able to avoid the sort of anti-social behaviour that plagues some Hotels and Motels when rowdy late night revellers return. Try and close doors silently and walk quietly - especially after ten at night and before seven thirty in the morning.
Most hosts price their rooms keenly and have not allowed in their budget for air conditioners, lights and heaters to be left on when guests are out for the day (or evening). How much effort does it really take to flick a switch? At Amber House, the powerful mode on our Daikin heat pumps will heat or cool a room more than 10 degrees Celsius from ambient in less than 180 seconds, so can you really environmentally justify leaving the unit running when you go out and lock your room?
Probably the quickest way to annoy the family at Amber House is to forget to place your breakfast order until late at night, then specify some unusual ingredients not commonly found in the larder or refrigerator as the major components of your breakfast, demand that this meal be served earlier than usual, don't appear the following morning at the unusually early time you specified, shuffle to the table without an explanation or apology for your lateness and then complain that some parts of the meal cooked especially for you are cold and/or overcooked.

Digital Safes
(How to use the FREE Digital Safes; emergency opening deposit)

There is a small digital safe in each guest room at Amber House.

Each safe is of identical construction and is bolted to the fabric of the building.
The internal dimensions of each safe are approximately: 300mm wide x 230mm high x 200mm deep (or approximately: 12" wide x 9" high x 8" deep).

Once you have set your combination and closed the safe, we can not open it for you if you forget the combination you set!
If you lock yourself out, we will have to call an expert to open the safe and the minimum call out fee during normal working hours (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4.30 pm) is $80. Outside of those hours, it may be impossible to find an expert to open the safe at all or an out-of-hours charge of $160 may be payable!
It is for this reason that we insist

1. on a cash bond of $80 being given to us before we will initially open the safe and allow you to set your own combination
2. you leave the safe door OPEN when you depart

before we return your cash bond of $80. If you can not open the safe before you leave because you have forgotten the combination you set, then I'm afraid your cash bond is obviously forfeit.
(You are under no compulsion to use the digital safe at all and there is obviously no charge if you both remember your combination and leave the door open upon departure.)

How to set the combination

After you have paid the $80 emergency opening deposit or bond, one of us will open the safe for you and leave you so that you can set your own combination in private.

The sequence is as follows:

1. Choose your own door combination code. You can choose any number that has more than 2 digits but less than 9 digits. That means you can choose any number in the range 000 to 99999999 as your own private combination.
2. MEMORISE THIS COMBINATION!
3. Locate a red button 4mm in diameter that protrudes from the inside of the back of the open door. It is on the vertical edge of the back of the door near the hinge, about 50mm (about 2") up from the lower door edge.
4. Press this red button (you will hear two beeps and a yellow light will illuminate on the front combination panel of the safe door)
5. Enter your chosen combination on the front keypad. (There will be a single beep each time each digit is pressed)
6. Confirm your combination by immediately pressing the letter "B" after the last digit of your combination has been entered (and within 15 sconds of that last key press)
7. After you press "B", the yellow light will extinguish
8. Check that the combination has been set correctly WHILE LEAVING THE DOOR OPEN by turning the rotary knob at the front of the door anticlockwise 90 degrees so that the bolts operate and then try to witdraw the bolts by using the door opening sequence below

How to open the safe
(after setting the combination)

1. Enter your private combination code on the keypad on the safe's door (there will be a single beep and a single yellow light flash each time a key is successfully pressed)
2. Immediately press the letter "B" after the last digit of your combination has been entered (and within 15 sconds of that last key press)
3. If the combination was correctly entered a green light will now illuminate and you now have 15 seconds to withdraw the bolts:
4. Turn the rotary knob at the front of the door clockwise 90 degrees (If the door combination is entered incorrectly 3 times consecutively, there is a compulsory wait of 20 seconds. If another incorrect combination is selected, then there is an enforced delay of 5 minutes before access can be attempted again.

How to lock the safe
(after checking you have correctly set and memorised the combination)

1. Wait about 20 seconds for any light to extinguish
2. Close the door
3. Turn the rotary knob at the front of the door anticlockwise 90 degrees to throw the bolts and the safe will now be locked

Coffee and Tea making
at Amber House

In the guests' dining room there is an Australian Sunbeam EM5600 Cafe Latte Pump espresso machine with temperature status LCD.

Here is a link to the machine-specific instructions for using this EM5600 to make ESPRESSO or SHORT BLACK (a concentrated, full bodied coffee with a stable layer of cream on top - known as "crema"), LONG BLACK, double espresso MACCHIATO, FLAT WHITE (an espresso with steamed milk), CAFFE LATTE, CAPPUCCINO, CAFFE MOCHA or CON PANNA (a variation on the original Vienna coffee, this is made up of an espresso topped with lightly whipped cream - it can also be dusted with cinnamon or drinking chocolate).

How to get boiling water
from the EM5600 to make tea, etc

The EM5600 is touted as being also able to produce boiling water quickly (for preparing long blacks, hot chocolate, marmite, Milo and filling coffee plungers and tea pots, etc) - the manufacturer claims that it takes less than 90 seconds from a standing start to a stream of boiling water:

1. Make sure there is water in the see-through reservoir at the back of the machine
2. Switch on the power supply to the EM5600 at the wall electrical outlet
3. Switch on the machine at the switch located at the upper left of the front LCD display panel; a red light will illuminate
4. Make sure the orange light to the lower left of the LCD display panel is illuminated - if necessary by depressing the switch located there
5. Wait a short while until the LCD displays "READY"
6. Position the cup or pot under the chromed steam/hot water wand at the right of the EM5600
7. Turn the knob at the top right side of the machine clockwise so that boiling hot water issues from the wand
8. Turn this hot water supply off by turning this same knob anti-clockwise until at the "0" position
9. If hot water is not going to be needed for some while, switch the machine off at the wall outlet.

STOP PRESS, 7 May 2010:
The Australian EM5600 has been sent away to be repaired/replaced/refunded.

(The hot water issuing from its spout was not really hot enough to brew tea, etc., so we have temporarily replaced it with the good old electric jug. If anyone knows of a better and more reliable model, please e-mail us!)

Breakfast
at Amber House

Our guests that have booked our Balcony Suite, Blue or Rose Room at Amber House can avail of a FREE COOKED BREAKFAST. They just need to tell Carolina exactly what they wish to eat and how they'd like it cooked the afternoon before. They also need to agree the time between 07:58hrs and 09:20hrs that it be served and, in the case of the Balcony Suite, whether they wish their breakfast served in the dining room or on their own private and sheltered balcony.

Carolina knows Irish, Italian, Vizayan, Fukien and a little Spanish, Swiss and Thai cuisine but is eager and interested to learn new dishes...

Balcony Suite, Gold, Blue and Rose Room guests may also help themselves freely to FRUIT (depending on season we may have spray-free apples, oranges, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, strawberries, kiwi fruit and bananas), walnuts (we've the oldest English Walnut tree in the South Island at the back of our plot) any time.

Guests that have not booked our Balcony Suite, Blue, Gold or Rose Room may avail of a separate cooked breakfast and fruit upon payment of an additional $15.00 per breakfast.

All guests may help themselves freely to Anzac Biscuits, cakes, (and other baked products depending on what Carolina has been cooking), coffee, Milo and tea (perhaps organic Castlereigh, Darjeeling, Camomile, Lemon & Ginger, cranberry, raspberry & elderflower or caffeine-free herbal). Milk and yoghurt are kept on the first shelf of the glass fronted 'fridge in the dining room; butters and non-butters on the second shelf and fruit juices (typically orange and apple but sometimes pineapple or boysenberry) and spring water are kept on the third shelf for you to help yourself at any time.

Local Seifried wines and local bubbly are stored on the lower shelves and are available to purchase.

On the opposite side to the tall, glass-fronted fridge is a normal-sized, domestic refrigerator that guests can use to store their own comestibles. There is a toaster and an electric hot water jug on top with a supply of spring water. Last thing at night, we also place a bread bin there with white and wholemeal bread.
All guests (except those who are paying the Overflow/"Our Choice" tariffs) can help themselves between 04:00hrs and 10:00hrs in the morning to breakfast ingredients (a choice of six to fill your bowl from cereals like ricepops, cornflakes, Weetbix, etc and two different mueslis), honeys, Rose's Lime Marmalade, Rose's English Breakfast Marmalade, Rose's Sweet Orange Marmalade, Rose's Ginger Marmalade, butters (dairy and peanut), chutneys, Marmite and Vegemite and eat and drink their own food and beverages there in Amber House's guest dining room any time. (Cutlery and crockery are in the dresser).

Digital Key Safe
at Amber House

B&B's in New Zealand do not have desk clerks on duty round-the-clock to await your arrival, so it is vital that the family knows what time to expect you. We have daily family affairs to attend to, but will have re-arranged our schedule to accommodate your mutually agreed check-in time - so your arrival time is extremely important! If this time changes either way by 30 minutes, please notify us as soon as you are aware of the change. Otherwise, we probably won't be at home to greet you.

If your arrival time is very unpredictable we can arrange to have your bedroom keys left in a digital key safe located to the right of Amber House's front door (in a bank of three). E-mail us for the unlock code.

Internet
at Amber House

Guests who have paid either the Blue or Gold Room or Balcony Suite tariffs are able to use our computer or their own on our wireless Internet network free of charge during the whole of their stay at Amber House. Although it is a fast access 802.11/b/g wireless network, it is not "Broadband" since in New Zealand we are charged for every Mb we download in excess of our 1Gb monthly allowance. For this reason, we would be grateful if you only use our connection for e-mail and websurfing rather than downloading music, photographs or data-allowance-gobbling video!

Guests who have paid the Rose Room tariff get one free hour of internet useage included in their room price.

Other guests may buy access - either at the time they make their booking or after arrival.
We charge $8 for 100MB/one hour or $20 for 300MB/one day's access.
In each case, if you wish to use your portable computer on our network, you will need to:

1. Start your computer
2. Search for wireless networks
3. When the network called "Amber House" is found, select it
4. Hand your portable to us for a few moments (and avert your eyes) so we can enter a sticky password.

Bicycle Hire
at Amber House

When you make your reservation on-line directly with us, you will be given the opportunity to add in bicycle hire at a price of $20 per day per adult. If you'd like to hire a bike casually just for the day after you've arrive, we charge $25 per day per adult or child. Guests who have paid the Balcony Suite tariff are able to use our bikes free of charge during the whole of their stay at Amber House.