# The best family hotels and motels in Christchurch

Written 2026-10-10 by Play Day. Christchurch places to stay with kids: motor lodges with full kitchens and a playground, the central hotels, the airport hotels with pools for an early flight, and a holiday park with a jumping pillow.

Christchurch calls itself the Garden City: punts on the Avon, a heritage tram, Hagley Park in the middle of town and the botanic gardens next door. It's also where most South Island road trips begin and end.

The family format in Christchurch is the New Zealand motor lodge: a unit with a kitchen, parking at the door, a laundry and often a pool. The Margaret Mahy playground is by the river and the tram loops the center, so the center is easy on foot. The airport hotels are handy before a dawn flight home.

## In the center

### [Fable Christchurch](https://ourplayday.com/places/fable-christchurch-christchurch)

Area: Gloucester Street, central

A block from Cathedral Square, with heated mineral pools. The suites have fridges, and the Margaret Mahy playground is a ten-minute walk.

- Suites: Yes
- Fridge: Yes
- Pool: Yes

### [ibis Christchurch](https://ourplayday.com/places/ibis-christchurch-christchurch)

Area: Hereford Street, central

Plain, and well placed in the middle of the rebuilt center, a few minutes from the Avon and the Riverside market.

- Pool: No

### [Country Glen Lodge](https://ourplayday.com/places/country-glen-lodge-christchurch)

Area: Bealey Avenue, north edge of the center

Bealey Avenue borders the center, so Hagley Park is a short walk and the city a fifteen-minute one. The motel units have full kitchens, and there's a barbecue area.

- Cribs: Yes
- Fridge: Yes
- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: Yes
- Laundry: Yes

## Merivale, Papanui and Riccarton

The suburbs north and west of the park, ten minutes' drive from the center, with the motels and the malls.

### [Camelot Motor Lodge](https://ourplayday.com/places/camelot-motor-lodge-christchurch)

Area: Merivale

A kids' playground sits right beside the swimming pool. Merivale's cafés and the park are a walk, and the center is a five-minute drive.

- Suites: Yes
- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: Yes

### [Quality Hotel Elms](https://ourplayday.com/places/quality-hotel-elms-christchurch)

Area: Papanui

On Papanui Road near Northlands mall, a short drive from the park, with a guest laundry and plenty of parking for a family driving through.

- Suites: Yes
- Fridge: Yes
- Pool: No
- Laundry: Yes

### [Tasman Holiday Parks Christchurch](https://ourplayday.com/places/tasman-holiday-parks-christchurch-christchurch)

Area: Papanui

Motel units and cabins sit around a jumping pillow, with a heated pool and a playground. It's ten minutes' drive to the center, and the liveliest place on this list.

- Suites: Yes
- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: Yes, heated
- Heated pool: Yes
- Laundry: Yes

### [Lorenzo Motor Lodge](https://ourplayday.com/places/lorenzo-motor-lodge-christchurch)

Area: Riccarton

A motor lodge on Riccarton Road, west of Hagley Park and near Westfield Riccarton and the university. Parking is at the door, and it's ten minutes' drive from both the airport and the center.

- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: No

### [Belle Bonne Motel](https://ourplayday.com/places/belle-bonne-motel-christchurch)

Area: Sockburn, west

A simple motel on Yaldhurst Road between Riccarton and the airport, for the night before a flight or the first night off one.

- Cribs: Yes
- Suites: Yes
- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: No
- Laundry: Yes

### [Garden City Motel](https://ourplayday.com/places/garden-city-motel-christchurch)

Area: Redwood, north

On Main North Road, the way out toward Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs, handy for a family heading north first thing.

- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: No

## By the airport

For the dawn flight or the midnight arrival.

### [Commodore Airport Hotel](https://ourplayday.com/places/commodore-airport-hotel-christchurch-christchurch)

Area: Burnside

It's family-owned and run that way, with suites and gardens a few minutes from the terminal. There's a heated indoor pool and spa, plus a tennis court and basketball hoops.

- Suites: Yes
- Pool: Yes, indoor, heated
- Heated pool: Yes
- Indoor pool: Yes

### [Sudima Christchurch Airport](https://ourplayday.com/places/sudima-christchurch-airport-christchurch)

Area: Harewood

Across the road from the terminal, with a self-service guest laundry and a restaurant.

- Pool: Yes
- Laundry: Yes

### [Airport Gateway Hotel](https://ourplayday.com/places/airport-gateway-hotel-christchurch)

Area: Burnside

The hotel shuttle runs around the clock, for a flight that lands at one in the morning. Some units have kitchenettes.

- Suites: Yes
- Kitchenette: Yes
- Pool: Yes
- Laundry: Yes

Page: https://ourplayday.com/guides/new-zealand/christchurch/family-hotels