Embarrassing stain for hotelier

A Hamilton motel featured on consumer television show Target with what looked like urine on the walls behind a toilet and a badly stained electric blanket is run by the Waikato president of the Motel Association of New Zealand.

Gardena Court Motel, run by Trish Wood, was the lowest-scoring motel, awarded 6/10 in last night's Target show after it was let down by cleaning.

Last night's show featured four Hamilton motels Motel Six, Auto Lodge Motel, Aspen Manor Motel and Gardena Court ranging in price from $110 to $185 per night.

Motel Six had a creepy crawly in the kitchen, mould on the shower floor and a high bacterial count on the bathroom tap.

Auto Lodge was given a 7/10. There were a lot of stains on a bedcover under UV light, although the mattress was clear.

Aspen Manor received the highest marks, 9/10, showing up a hair in the shower and insects on the ceiling and a stain on the bed.

A swab of the tap at Gardena Court showed a high bacteria count and stains which showed up under UV light on the electric blanket and walls behind the toilet. The stains could be spilt drink, blood, semen or urine.

Mrs Wood said the motel had been let down by their cleaners. The motel had new cleaners who had been retrained in cleaning processes.

She said Target had not run their full response, explaining this, and had not compared rooms fairly.

Hamilton City Council communications and marketing manager Philip Burton said with Hamilton trying to position itself as a major events city it was important it had high standards of accommodation. "Anything that damages that reputation we're obviously concerned about."