Let KAYAK do the searching
Based on KAYAK hotel searches, the most popular destination is Queenstown (57% of total searches to South Island). The next most popular destinations are Christchurch (26%) and Te Anau (9%). Searches for hotels in Lake Tekapo (8%) are also popular.
KAYAK users have found double rooms in South Island for as cheap as $37 (Dunedin) in the last 3 days. The average price is $240.
In the last 72 hours, users have found South Island hotels for this weekend for as low as $68 (Queenstown) per night. Users have also found 3-star hotels from $80 (Queenstown) and 4-star+ hotels from $98 (Queenstown).