Hi, I am Carol Murphy and I purchased Tuscany on Thames in December 2017. In 2012 I was looking for a change of career option after being a travel agent for over 25 years. I purchased the lease to a motel in Pukekohe and loved it so much that I decided I needed to buy my own. I asked my agent to see if she could find me one in Thames as my first option. I wanted to live in a smaller town and had always loved the Thames area. Lucky me, she found Tuscany on Thames and there was no need for a second option (it was Whangarei). I love it here and so the good vibes I had always felt were for a reason. I plan on staying here and running my business until the day comes when I can't greet a guest or answer the phone with a smile on my face.

I am always looking for ways to be kind to our environment and the team that work in the motel and in the latter part of 2022 I was very interested in ENJO which was a system for cleaning the motel using special fibre cloths and mainly water. This works very well and we continue to use this system, except for the bathrooms. If it was for my home I would be happy but as we are a motel we still use chemicals as well here.

COVID made life very interesting and apart from the financial stress I had a nice holiday. I chose to not take emergency housing. Like most businesses in NZ for the next two years getting enough team members was difficult. We now have a full contingent. 

Of course a good motel is only as good as the people that work with me to make it so. Lynne came with the motel when I purchased it and is the main reason for the units' excellent standard. Debbie came on board as a supervisor in February 2024 and she will help you with reservations and minds the motel if I go away. She is the best kind of help to me and she just sees things that need doing and does them. My granddaughter Talia started working weekends and holidays at the end of 2024 and this helps fund her while she is at university completing a Bachelor of Health Science, specialising in Paramedicine. Christine came on board in early 2026 when she moved back to New Zealand and was looking for a bit of work to fill in her day. She has learned all aspects of the position including motel minding. We also have Fleur and Crighton who come in as contractors and take care of all the outside boy stuff that I don't want to do. I do still do some work and am the backup everywhere.