My Travel Agent Booked Me Into Pen-y-bryn, What Do I Need to Know?

March 18, 2026

Our guests find us from many places, including our own website and listings on online travel agencies, but a very large percentage come to us through travel agencies around the world. While many of these agencies are very good about providing their clients with a lot of information about each of the properties they have booked on their behalf, there is often some useful information that is overlooked, so we thought we’d put this little guide together to help our guests and make sure they can make the most of their time with us.

Check-in Time. We are a very small lodge and we are owner-operated, so there is a very small window between when guests check out and before guests are expected to check in for us to take care of getting all the rooms turned over and taking care of whatever business we need to do outside of the lodge. For this reason we ask guests not to check in before 2:30pm. That gives us four hours to strip, clean and reset the guest rooms, do whatever shopping needs doing, and take care of any errands that we need to do. If you think you will arrive before 2:30pm, please contact us so that we can plan to be on-site for your arrival if at all possible. We also ask that you not aim to check in between 6pm and 8pm, since we are often serving dinner during that time and will not be able to greet you, help you to your room, and get you settled during that time.
Dinner. We are not set up as a restaurant, so when we offer dinner it is only on the basis of prior bookings so it is not possible to add dinner to your stay at the time of arrival. If you would like to dine at the lodge we require no less than 48 hours’ notice, together with notifications of any dietary restrictions, no matter how minor, so that we can prepare a suitable menu. Note that we do not offer vegan menus, nor do we offer children’s menus, and dinner is not available every day of the week. There are a number of good restaurants in Oamaru and we are happy to help make a booking for you if you are not dining with us.
Oamaru Penguins. The vast majority of visitors to Oamaru want to include a visit to the Oamaru Penguin colony as part of their stay. During the height of summer (January through February and into March) tickets sell out very early, so to avoid disappointment we recommend booking your tickets at your earliest convenience.
Getting to Us. We find that most of our guests are coming to us from one of four places: Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown/Wanaka, and Mt Cook/Lake Tekapo. Each of these places is no more than around 3-1/2 hours’ drive from Oamaru, which we consider to be a reasonable distance to travel in a day. We have prepared one-page guides to help you make the most of your drive when coming to Oamaru from these places, which you can download from the link here. If you’re coming from further away (e.g., Te Anau, Akaroa, Kaikoura or Invercargill) then you can refer to the guides for the places you’d have to travel through to reach us to get advice on what there is to do as you get a bit closer to Oamaru.
Parking. We have five parking spots at the front of the lodge, one for each guest room. When you arrive, please park in line with one of the five concrete bollards so that there will be room for all guests’ cars. Also, while our driveway may seem narrow, large trucks regularly come through, so your car will have no trouble.
Breakfast. Breakfast is included in all our room rates, and is served from 8am to 10am every morning. When you come to the table you will find a range of cold items waiting for you, including fresh fruit, plain yogurt, granola, muesli, prepared fruit, jams, honey and butter, along with some baked item (e.g., croissants, scones, muffins, etc). We will offer you a choice of tea or coffee and after you have had a chance to enjoy the cold offerings we will ask if you’d like a cooked breakfast, which would consist of eggs made to order, bacon, mushrooms, grilled tomato and toast. If you give us enough notice we can also offer pancakes or waffles. If you have special dietary restrictions, please be sure to let us know so that we can be sure to have suitable alternatives on hand.
Pets. While we have two Labradoodles ourselves, we do not allow them, or any guest dogs, into the guest rooms in order to ensure that the rooms are suitable for guests who may have allergies. For this reason, we do not allow any pets to travel with their people to Pen-y-bryn.
Welcome Drink and Canapés. In the evenings between approximately 5:30pm and 6:30pm we offer a complimentary welcome beverage (such as wine, beer or basic cocktails, as well as soft drinks) and a selection of lodge-made canapés. To accommodate guests who may be dining with us this timing may be adjusted somewhat, but we will discuss with you on arrival what time suits you. Again, please be sure to advise us of any dietary restrictions so we can be sure that what we offer will suit your needs.
Check-out Time. To give us time to prepare your room for the next guests, we ask you to vacate your room by 10:30am. You are welcome to remain in the lodge’s public rooms after this time if you are not quite ready to leave by 10:30am.