Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - Cheap Hotel at or near AKL - Auckland Airport?

I'm looking for some suggestions or ideas to book a cheapo stay at or near the airport for a week in March.

I managed to take advantage of the Air New Zealand 12 days of Christmas specials, they were slick in offering trips for about the same travel dates in March throughout New Zealand so I outslicked them and booked a bunch of day trips... the problem of course is getting to and from the airport every day for a week... $26 Airbus Express is a bit pricey for me to stay in the city, so ideally I'd like to find a cheap hotel or even hostel close enough to the airport that I could stay for approximately what I would pay for hotel/hostel anyway in the city... without the commuter fees.

Ideas? Suggestions? Discount codes?

Would love to check out Formule 1 right at AKL... but have reservations paying $79 NZD for a Motel 6 of the Pacific. Although I would if there were significant discounts involved.

Looking forward to your recommendations.

--Russ

Bella Vista Express Hotel Auckland Airport (formerly Ventura Inn & Suites)
http://www.venturainns.co.nz/Aklairport_intro.htm

Another vote for Bella Vista...comfortable, and has a complimentary shuttle and complimentary continental breakfast from 0400 (or 0430). And air-con!

At a cheaper price point I've stayed (some years ago now) at Silver Oaks Inn Silver Point (http://www.silveroaks.co.nz/hotels/silverpoint/index.html) which is comfortable enough and also has complimentary shuttle (24 hours) to/from the airport. The big killer (and why I would not stay there again, particularly in warmer months) is the lack of air-con. Checking into an upstairs room at 0100 (AM) in March/April was for me like checking into a sauna (AKL can be pretty humid at times). It may not bother others (and I suspect I have a much lower tolerance for humid hotel rooms than most) but I like a nice cool hotel room. That aside, it was comfortable and clean (and a downstairs room may not have the same issues).

The only others I've stayed at in that area are Novotel and Holiday Inn and while nice, neither is among the cheaper options.

wotif.com has a a reasonably lengthy list of AKL airport accommodation you could check out.

thank you for these suggestions :)

For cheapness at AKL, you can't really go past the recently opened Formulae 1 - a 10 minute walk or they have a complimentary shuttle. (There is also 24Hour Supermarket 50 years across the road.)

I have stayed at both and the Bella Vista and is really little different from the F1 (even factoring in the "continental" breakfast); just more expensive and harder to get to.