We chose this property because of the location, a fully serviced apartment, with
in-suite laundry, a balcony and because the trip advisor reviews gave it an 'average' four out of five. We were booked here for eight nights.
Location- Great:
It is in good area with shopping, cinema and restaurants, and is only minutes from the Auckland CBD, Museum, Sky Tower, Eden Park and Auckland Zoo so it sounded good.
Size:
Don't be fooled -- the web page pictures make you think the apartment is bigger. It was a disappointment.
One Bedroom Apartment Kitchen:
The kitchen was barely passable. It did not have enough pots/pans...to cook with. I wanted to make soup. There was not a large pot in the kitchen so I asked the front desk for one. They did not have any. The fry pan in the kitchen was so badly scratched - they were able to replace it -- but with a small one. The kitchen was more like a bachelor size apartment kitchen.
Balcony:
The balcony is not big enough to sit on. You can step on the "balcony". It is one foot deep and -- it is the length of the apartment.
Small One Bedroom Apartment-Suggestion:
It is a small one bedroom apartment so maybe go for a two bedroom. Ask for the square footage.
Train:
The side we were on had a train going past it regularly. The sound proofing is pretty good so you faintly heard it.
Local Restaurants:
We were thankful for the close proximity to three good restaurants as we really could not cook anything for dinner [insufficient pots/pans or large enough stove/elements]. The kitchen did not even have oven mitts -- so bring your own.
Reception:
The other very weird thing for us was when we arrived on Sunday -- there was no one to greet us at the front desk-reception. The front door to the hotel was locked. We eventually figured out we needed to buzz. Then a voice came from an intercom and we got the instruction to get your key from a lock box. We found it unsettling that there is no one on site. It was abandoned.
Phone Not Working:
When we got up to our apartment our phone would not work. We weren't able call to order in for supper. There was no one to contact. It was Sunday and not much was open. We found a food truck [Broadway Diner]. It took a couple of days for the technician to get things working. We had tours that we had to reconfirm by phone so the front desk was helpful in confirming those for us - as we still had no functioning phone in our apartment.
Hours For Front Desk-Reception:
The hours for the front desk are very restricted. We had a feeling that this property was running lean and mean. It did not exude confidence in our stay.
The Bed: not comfortable at all - soft and lumpy
Air Conditioning/Heat For Apartment:
We asked for a fan as it got hot in our apartment - we could not figure out why - until we asked at the front desk. We thought there was a problem with our remote/wall controller. You do not have your own control for a/c or heat for your apartment. It is connected with four others on your floor. This is a property issue we hope for future travellers they will update.
The front staff for the most part were helpful.
The housekeeping staff were great.
The staff was the best thing about this property. We left something behind in our apartment in our haste to get the airport shuttle and to allow for our international flight time allowance. The staff contacted us right away. Great follow-up.
Our Overall Rating/Experience: We would not stay here again
A Definite Plus for Auckland: We had fantastic all day tours with Bush and Beach. We suggest you book a tour with them.
Airport Transfer Service: We booked with Super Shuttle and they were good
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