Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Auckland holiday apartment

Mrs OFFlyer and I will together with our two daughters aged 3 and 5 be visiting Auckland for 3 nights start December and I am looking for a holiday apartment to accommodate us.

Would be looking for central location (no car available), either around Queen St. close to the water or alternatively in Parnell. Found both Waterfront and Quest Parnell – but neither is available for the period in question.

Through searches I have found the following potential properties:

Waterfront – Princess wharf
No availability - darn

Quest Parnell
Not CBD – but certainly a decent alternative
No availability

Landings
I do not hear good about this property

Waldorf
No 2 bedroom apartments

Quest on Cintra
No short stays

Quest on Queen
Construction site next door

Quest on Newmarket
Too far out

Elliot Street
No windows in bedrooms – which is an absolute no go

Sapphire
No 2 bedrooms available and no kids under 12


Which leaves me with
1) Oaks Residences at 179 per night
I hear mixed about this

2) Oaks Smartstay at 189 per night
No exactly central

3) Quest on Eden at 230
??

4) Quay West Suites – at 355
Pricey

Any hints/advise or other properties is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Quay West Suites Auckland
Pretty nice in IMHO

Hi,

I'm guessing you're looking for a 2 bedroom suite? It's slightly out of the way (but easy to walk to Symonds St and catch a bus) but you could try the Comfort Inn on Newton Rd. Have never been in but understand it's not too expensive.

Thanks for the input.

Parnell showed availability after all for 280/night. However, after I found out about the Link bus system I opted for Oaks on Hobson - and got it for 149 per night.

Thanks OFFlyer for bringing up the idea of Auckland holiday apartments — I didn't think of this option for my trip to AKL in December [was looking into booking an award stay at the new Westin property.] I am interested in renting either a studio or a one bedroom and have narrowed my list down to either the Sapphire Apartments (http://www.sapphireapartment.co.nz/index.html), or the Waldorf Bankside Apartments (http://www.auckland-apartments.co.nz/auckland_apartments.htm).

Any recommendations for which property I should book? I'm leaning towards the Sapphire as it is a little cheaper and it appears the building is brand new. Any suggestions / comments are appreciated!

Cheers,
Robert

Try searching on these websites - Quay West which I would totally recommend was showing at $NZD147.00 per night in August for a 2bdrm.

www.thegatehouse.co.nz
www.aptsinauckland.co.nz

I was in Auckland for a sailing regatta and we stayed here http://www.waldorf-on-scene.co.nz/
Good location with walking distance to most areas and a supermarket below the building.

Thanks OFFlyer for bringing up the idea of Auckland holiday apartments — I didn't think of this option for my trip to AKL in December [was looking into booking an award stay at the new Westin property.] I am interested in renting either a studio or a one bedroom and have narrowed my list down to either the Sapphire Apartments (http://www.sapphireapartment.co.nz/index.html), or the Waldorf Bankside Apartments (http://www.auckland-apartments.co.nz/auckland_apartments.htm).

Any recommendations for which property I should book? I'm leaning towards the Sapphire as it is a little cheaper and it appears the building is brand new. Any suggestions / comments are appreciated!

Cheers,
Robert

We have Waldorf Bankside Apts. booked for a 9 day stay pre-cruise in January. They have gotten excellent reviews on tripadvisor.com and the building is also quite new. The only report on tripadvisor for the Sapphire was not very positive - and haven't found any other reports anywhere else.

We'll be going off to the Bay of Islands for 2 of the nights, but it seems cheaper to just keep our studio at Bankside than check-out and re check-in. That would also change it to a higher nightly price instead of the one-week stay.

To possibly aid future searches where the traveller has flexibility outside of downtown Auckland / Parnell, there are significantly worse places to spend time than Takapuna, where the The Spencer on Byron (http://www.castleresorts.com/Home/accommodations/the-spencer-on-byron-hotel/) has studio, 1 and 2 bedroom apartments with kitchen and laundry facilities. There are more cafeterias and restaurants within walking distance than you could shake a stick at, a far greater range of shops nearby than Queen St, and Takapuna Beach is arguably the best in suburban Auckland. If you're carless they can put you onto a limo (i.e. big but old Mercedes) service which, if I recall correctly, was NZ$60 from AKL. The driver waits at the carousel / immigration exit with a Wally-board and it's a steal for that price.

To possibly aid future searches where the traveller has flexibility outside of downtown Auckland / Parnell, there are significantly worse places to spend time than Takapuna, where the The Spencer on Byron (http://www.castleresorts.com/Home/accommodations/the-spencer-on-byron-hotel/) has studio, 1 and 2 bedroom apartments with kitchen and laundry facilities. There are more cafeterias and restaurants within walking distance than you could shake a stick at, a far greater range of shops nearby than Queen St, and Takapuna Beach is arguably the best in suburban Auckland. If you're carless they can put you onto a limo (i.e. big but old Mercedes) service which, if I recall correctly, was NZ$60 from AKL. The driver waits at the carousel / immigration exit with a Wally-board and it's a steal for that price.

Many, many thanks for the note as I just confirmed a one bedroom unit at the SOB, a delightfully unique moniker Castle Resorts & Hotels uses for a property identifier on it's confirmation numbers. The tripadvisor reviews all very positive and I wanted to try something a little different this time and get away from the cookie cutter "downtown" chain hotels and the bonus at the SOB to me is the price which seems an excellent value. I will take the advice about the Mercedes as well. ^

We have Waldorf Bankside Apts. booked for a 9 day stay pre-cruise in January. They have gotten excellent reviews on tripadvisor.com and the building is also quite new. The only report on tripadvisor for the Sapphire was not very positive - and haven't found any other reports anywhere else.

We'll be going off to the Bay of Islands for 2 of the nights, but it seems cheaper to just keep our studio at Bankside than check-out and re check-in. That would also change it to a higher nightly price instead of the one-week stay.

Thanks Tenerife for the additional information. I ended up booking the Quay West Suites (http://www.mirvachotels.com.au/hotel_detail.asp?hotel=23)(thanks to fleet7—see post #6 in this thread) for six nights in December. I was able to book a two-bedroom suite for NZ$142.50/night. The same unit is going for $355—$405 on their actual website. I booked my reservation through: http://www.gatehouse.co.nz/.

I booked my reservation through: http://www.gatehouse.co.nz/.

I looked at that website but was dismayed to read this notice:

Note: 5 day minimum booking period for all properties

As I only need 2 nights at the end of my NZ trip in March, so opted for the Quadrant as wanted to be within walking distance of central Auckland after time at Spencer on Byron at start of visit.