Our stay at the Kakatu Retreat was interesting. It's about 4 km out of Kaikoura, and initially we thought that was an issue. However, it worked out better. It was quiet and had really nice views. It was right beside the local golf course, and the local pro - Toni - welcomed us to the house (she's a friend of the owners).
On the hotels.com description, I remember Kakatu being listed as a hotel. However, it is a B&B. I think there are 7 rooms in total. I don't believe the owners live onsite.
The facilities themselves are great. There is a large kitchen, fully stocked, a living room and rec/room with a ping pong table. Plus, there's a wrap-around balcony with some tables. You're free to prepare your own breakfast from what's available in the fridge, and there's a separate fridge for guests to store their own things. You can also use the facilities to make your own meals during your stay. There's also a free laundry facility downstairs.
We stayed in the Mountain View room. Only complaint was it's warm (from the sun) and we couldn't get the AC to work. Not sure why.
The owner works with old age homes, and has made the building 100% handicapped accessible. The only thing we found was that, especially in the bathroom, it seemed to smell like a facility.
Overall, we were very pleased with our stay at Kakatu and recommend it highly.
PS - if you're going whale watching, go in the morning! Winds tend to pick up in the afternoons.