Bains de boue et spas Hell's Gate

It was a real shame as I did call up a week ago and got told by the manager that I would get a call back at the end of the day Monday 4th August. I gracefully waited as I am fully aware a managers position can get really busy. But a full week and with my contact details given and read back to me , I have had radio silence, I believe this to be rude. I had an unfortunate situation where me being a local and not the most tech savvy person, I booked and paid in US dollar's ( I am a Rotorua resident) and I had organised a Mystery team building for my employees from Auckland to travel down to be experiencing some activities. The booking gave me a 1 hour slot and I had planned other activities around this. They had another Mystery envelope in the van awaiting. They were never given this 1 hour instruction and continued in the pools and completley missing the mud pool experience. I frantically was calling as the other activities were behind in time. My conversation with the Manager heard me taking ownership for my failure and that I had paid double for this experience for the team. But the booking stated 1hour only with a 20mins slot for the mud experience inc. They never got this and were rushed out of the pools for there next experience. I am saddened that the person that checked them in that late afternoon picked this up upon guests arrival for my booking status but this was never relayed to me, only to my employees who were none the wiser. To add to this I did call to inform Hellsgate staff that the employees were on their way. Please remember in these times your customers are important and that a call back or a txt message goes a long way!

We had a great experience with shells gate today. We went to do the mud bath and spa, I accidentally booked for the wrong day which staff easily resolved for us. We were offered a discounted rate to do the geothermal walk which we hadn’t planned on doing and really enjoyed it. AJ was a great guide, he had lots of interesting information and made us all feel welcome, entertaining us with his jokes. It was worthwhile doing the walk to learn more about the area before hopping in the mud bath. We went with our 2 children which enjoyed it but I think I’d prefer to go without them next time to make the most of the relaxing experience. We probably spent about 90mins there.

Time well spent with 20 minutes in the mud bath and then as long as we wanted in the hot spring spas. We spent about 2 hours there. Beautiful surroundings.

It is a place where geothermal energy coming from the belly of the earth envelops you with its volcanic mud and thermal spas with a temperature of 40 degrees

I came back to New Zealand for this wonderful experience. Smelly mud, but oh so good for our skin and such an unforgettable experience for the children. A spa in the middle of volcanic territory! I would definitely come back.

Amazing experience, we had 20mins in our own mud pool then aslong as we wanted in the sulphur pools. Well organised, staff were fantastic

My partner and I had a nice time soaking in the mud bath and then spending time in the hot pools overlooking the geothermal landscape. We got a small mud bath to ourselves and were able to thoroughly enjoy the experience in the allotted 20 minutes (which feels a lot longer when you are relaxing in the pool). The hot pools were a very comfortable temperature and a nice place to spend the rest of our time at the spa. Thank you for a wonderful experience!

My partner and I had a really good time just soaking in the mud bath and spas. This was the first time of either of us to be in a mud bath and we both really enjoyed our time. The staff was really friendly and made sure we were well looked after at all times. Highly recommend for anyone that likes to relax after a long day of exploring Rotorua or just want to have a nice relaxing day.

Such helpful and friendly staff made the experience so easy to navigate and show us to enjoy ourselves. It felt so much longer than we expected - we thought the 20 minute limit wouldn't feel long enough, but bathing in the warm mud for any longer would be too much. Lathering ourselves with the mud was a strange but relaxing sensation and then relaxing in the other spa after rising off was lovely.

This was a must do in Rotorua for me. The tour and the mud baths were excellent. I would recommend hiring swimmers as it is almost impossible to get the smell out. But having said that it was well worth it.