Cottage top place to spend night

It doesn’t cost a lot money to be nice, according to John and Kathleen Day.

That is probably the reason behind the couple’s Bed and Breakfast’s latest success on Trip Advisor.

For the second consecutive year, Chestnut Lane Cottage B&B has won first place in the Traveller’s Choice for the South Pacific and New Zealand as well as placing in the top 25 B&Bs in the world for Traveller’s Choice.

The humble pair, who started the venture out of their Matamata home six years ago, said it was a ‘‘lovely surprise’’.

There’s no doubt about it, the Days go out of their way to ensure their customers leave feeling satisfied but the homemade jam scones with cream mean more than a five-star rating on Tripadvisor.

‘‘[The pinnacle of the job is] just seeing them happy to be here,’’ Kathleen said.

‘‘We always get a notification from Tripadvisor when a new review has been posted and I always reply.’’

The couple have never had one bad egg in their six years of business, an outstanding feat considering their reasonable prices.

And customers have come from all over the world, Kathleen said.

The two-storey home is certainly grand, but the mother of two said that ironically, many guests admire features that come with most New Zealand accommodation – a view of the stars and green grass.

‘‘We had a Malaysian couple stay once ... It was a frosty, frosty morning ... she said ‘‘could we have our breakfast outside in the gazebo?’’

‘‘They were busy taking photos [of the grass and the frost],’’ Kathleen said.

‘‘They said they were never cold back home.’’

Other people have just enjoyed sitting outside at night looking at the stars because the skies back home are covered with smog, she said.

But to place first in the country for two years running clearly means they are providing more than a bit of greenery and a view to the heavens.