My mother and I stayed here in February 2011 and we don't have any complaints about this place. The only less positive point I can mention is that its location is about 2,5 Km more or less north from Kaikoura's center, which means that you'd better have a car to reach it. Let me add as well that the motel is just beside Highway #1 (Beach Rd there), where traffic is heavy. Nevertheless we didn't find it disturbing at all. Somehow the traffic noise is not that serious and it is possible to sleep without problems (and I'm a light sleeper!).
About the motel and the studio we had, we found it charming. I would say that its name (colonial) describes it quite well. In addition it was clean, comfortable and spacious. No complaints.
We don't have either any complaints about the owners and the staff. We didn't interact with them too much but when we did it, they were correct, welcoming and helpful. For example, the day we left, they allowed us to leave our luggage at their reception for several hours while we went to visit and walk around Kaikoura Peninsula.
Therefore I consider to be this a good and convenient motel (as long as you have a car).

Don't even contemplate going here - the staff are unhelpful and in fact down right rude and antagonistic -the customer is not right here.

The motel owner was rude and tried to rip me and my kids off by adding extra charges and not honoring what was advertised on his website. I was so dissatisfied that I found alternate accommodation yet the motel still charged my visa card - the dispute goes on

My wife and I stayed a night here when visiting Kaikoura. The innkeeper was helpful and flexible, and took the time to get us oriented properly in Kaikoura and see that we were comfortable. The room was a bit dated but comfortable and clean, and we had a good rest. It was also one of the better values available that night.

The next morning we checked out and drove over to do the whale watching cruise. When we got back to our car, we found a note from the motel that we'd forgotten something. Drove back and sure enough the innkeeper had found one of our things we had left in the room.

That he would take the time to remember where we'd said we were going, and then drive over, find our car in the parking lot and leave a note was just terrific and far beyond what we could have reasonably expected. This was one of our best motel stays during our trip in New Zealand!