Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Wellington/Jakarta
Programs: Accor+ Platinum, Honors Diamond, SPG/MR Gold, IHG, KrisFlyer, Airpoints, Qantas FF, Enrich, SkyMiles
Posts: 480
Are you dead set about staying at the Grand Mercure? My go-to hotel in Auckland is the Pullman, which once upon a time was Intercontinental and then Hyatt Regency. Location is not as dead central as Grand Mercure but the area is very quiet, right in front of Albert Park. It is also only some 10 min walk to hustle and bustle of Queen street (although going back you're facing an uphill climb).
Room at the Pullman is definitely bigger, although bathrooms are still tub/shower combo. They also offer a very nice big semi-indoor pool (they close down the shutter for winter I'd think) and jacuzzi/sauna right next to it. Their bar is much nicer than Grand Mercure's. Breakfast at the restaurant is also nicer, although you still cannot expect anything like Asian hotel breakfast.
Platinum guests do get free full breakfast at the restaurant (when I stayed last month). In addition, Platinum guests get access to the very decent executive lounge (access only granted to Platinums seemingly - they don't offer room types with executive lounge access).
As for pricing, it might be a little more expensive than Grand Mercure (say, 5-10%), but I have seen a lot of times when they're actually cheaper.