Built in 1868, rebuilt again in 1893 after a fire. Used as a rest stop for travellers going to Wairarapa and beyond. 11 rooms in total and situated above a nice restaurant called Brac n Brow that served the best Guiness Beef Cheek Pot Pie I've ever had (with duck fat fries and an aioli whipped to such an amazing airy texture you wouldn't believe).
There are three clocks above the bed. None of them work (lmao).
While it was interesting to stay at, not having a tap mixer is kinda sucky, and also the bathroom was leaking quite a bit. The air con in my room is also positioned so it blows directly at the head of the bed, and no, there's nothing on the remote that changes the air flow.
On our road trip, our unanimous opinion was thus: "We're glad we came to Featherston, but damn, we're not coming back here ever again." (read: we're not the type to get super interested in small towns) You also have to drive through the Remutaka Hill which is known for being one of the highest-risk road sections in all of New Zealand. Our trip was in fact delayed 5 hours because there was a crash that day and this is the only way to Martinborough (unless you detoured an extra two hours), so we missed our lunch reservation. It's fine, we ate at my friend's place and had a nice time regardless.
Watch out for Jed's Knob though. 😏
