Developed by a now bankrupt developer, this property had a troubled birth. Thanks to different bodies owning different parts, including rooms, at one stage there were two hotels operating at the one property. Needless to say the original management had enough, and in 2012 Sofitel stepped in. 5 years down the track I decided to give it a shot, I am glad I did.

Location

Located on the Viaduct development near the Wynyard quarter precinct, the hotel is in walking distance of some great restaurants and the city in general. While my room was quiet, I was lucky to get an inside view eastern room, the western rooms with the “city” view overlook a busy bus depot that by all reports is quite noisy.

Check In

Checkin was professional and quick. After confirming details, a $200 pre authorisation was taken on my card and then a key was handed over.

Room

As a Platinum my city view standard room was upgraded to an inside view Luxury room that was lovely. Some of the nice touches made all the difference. Like a travel adaptor for power. And the supplied Nespresso machine came with its own milk frother, ideal if you are like me and need a latte or three to kick start your day. 

Each inside view room appears to have a balcony, while small unless your on the third floor that sits above reception on level 2, it’s a nice space to take in the weather should it be suitable. I did wonder why the larger balcony’s lacked any furnishing, perhaps the hotel wishes the space to be used for short periods of time owing to the nature of the building shape trapping noise in what is essentially a courtyard type environment. 

The bathroom was of a good size and unlike more modern designs actually had a bath. The shower features the traditional shower head as well as a rain shower option. Interestingly and somewhat annoying, the temp control for each head required different settings for the same output.

Service

As to be expected service was great but not overbearing. If I had one complaint, it would be they failed the ice bucket test, delivery a bucket on the first night only after the second call was made, 60 minutes after the first. 

Dining

I was disappointed by Breakfast on the two days I had it. The Buffet is small in selection as is the hot cooked to order menu. Eggs Benedict, my favourite, came with ham that was garden variety, not dissimilar to the ham you would find in any sandwich, rather than being carved leg ham for instance.  Poached eggs on the second day were nice, bacon did appear to be premium, all be it deep fried to achieve crispy status but the rosti lacked flavour, was uneven in size and thus cooked to different degrees.

The seating is too small for the restaurant design and obviously they have had to use some of the lobby area instead, which is a pity. After my experience with Breakfast I decided to eat out for dinner, a plethora of better value options exist a short stroll from the hotel in the Marina area.

Overall

Despite the restaurant not being up to scratch, I think I found my new favourite hotel for Auckland. It’s quiet, yet handy enough to the city.

Facilites are great including an indoor pool I did not visit, and perhaps the only other possible gripe I had was the internet not handling my photo upload for this report. Cest la vie.