:D!

I have never seen any hotel charging money on a points reservation (unless you don't show up).

That wording is usually seen when you are making a prepaid booking.

If you post the dates someone else can double check.

jxd

Does the $16 parking fee allow multiple entries or just single entry?

as219

Multiple entries.

Also, for what it's worth, they agreed to give us a 50% discount on valet parting because we didn't receive a room upgrade. (We didn't want one; booked the Relaxation Room on purpose.) At NZD 20 a day, it was a lot more convenient than using the parking garage.

RafKa

Just came back from yet another stay here. Staff is great, remembering us from previous visits (it's probably my 5-6th stay in 1yr). We had a special occasion (son's 4th birthday) and they left nice notes and treats every night, which was much appreciated.

Hotel was at capacity due to a long weekend holiday, but they managed to give us a one level upgrade to deluxe lakefront on 7th floor with a small balcony. Unfortunately some of the other guests think it's ok to hop out of the balcony onto the roof on that floor, so your privacy may be compromised...

Diamond breakfast is still very good with made to order eggs, but they do keep paring down the buffet over time (now the juicer is no longer self service).

Wakatipu Grill actually does great food for dinner, and the setting is awesome. I love having pre-dinner drinks outside at the Pinot Pit, and the 2 complimentary drink vouchers per day is a nice touch: it includes a Central Otago Pinot Noir and Cloudy Bay Pelorus so a value of around NZ$20 per voucher.

Parking wise, I find that if you arrive back at the hotel by 6pm you are usually able to snag one of the last free spaces around the DoubleTree, but later than that it's either the $16 parking garage or the long slog up the road outside the complex.

bgriff

Just stayed here for a few nights during our first visit to Queenstown. We had booked a Relaxation room for 2 nights and then ended up extending our stay for a third night due to poor weather up the coast cancelling other plans; for the third night the relaxation rooms were booked so we booked a standard room and I believe that's what we got, though there are lots of variations to floorplans here so I'm not 100% sure.

Overall very impressed with the hotel. Even the standard room was quite spacious with a separate living area and a fireplace, which I was impressed with. The only real losses to the standard room were no lake view (which is a big loss, admittedly); obviously no jacuzzi, and the standard room's balcony was so small as to be unusable; and the standard room did not have the espresso machine of the relaxation room. Oddly the standard room also did not have wine glasses available, despite there still being half-bottles of wine offered in the minibar.

The Relaxation room was nice to have although I don't know if I'd book it again -- the jacuzzi was lovely but my main complaint with it was that it was oriented such that the "seats" were facing toward the building, which seemed like an odd choice. Even if it had been rotated you wouldn't easily be able to see the lake due to some plants placed to provide privacy, which is an understandable choice, but you'd at least be able to look out at the sky and the mountains across the lake. But one nice feature of the relaxation rooms is that, being on the ground floor and right by the lake, they are the most conveniently located rooms for getting to breakfast and to the water taxi.

It has been well-covered that the location of the hotel is a bit odd, but I didn't mind it for a short stay. One of our three days was a long day trip to Milford Sound where being based at the Hilton meant we could join and leave the trip a bit later and earlier anyway (we booked through Real Tours and they arrange for a taxi to bring you to the bus station near the airport, where the bus stops on its way from downtown). We then took the water taxi to and from town on our first day, and again to town on the last day, and took an Uber back to the hotel that day as the high winds that day made the inbound water taxi ride a bit more adventurous than we had bargained for. If I was staying for any longer it would probably be nicer to be in town, though, since the hotel restaurants are good and reasonably priced but don't offer a lot of variety.

As a Gold member I received continental breakfast as expected with an NZ$10/person buy-up to the full menu, including the option to order a hot dish from the kitchen. The breakfast was probably the best I've had at a Hilton property -- the selection was pretty much the usual but everything was a step up in quality from what you'd see in North America. I also received 2 drink tickets per night as a gold member. Worth noting that they said those could be used for espresso-based coffee drinks at breakfast if you wanted, which is a bit cheap on the one hand, but on the other hand is a nice option to have since they otherwise may go unused.

roelb

I am in this property at the moment, am diamond.

I initially booked a 1 bedroom residence suite and we (unfortunately) stayed in that room (3404) on night #1 . The hotel was fully booked. The only advice I can give on that room type is: don't! There is aircon in the living room, but not in the bedroom. And the setup is such that the living room aircon won't give any airflow or refriguration in the (tiny) bedroom, which was hot and stuffy even though we were vemtilating it for hours in between 6pm and midnight. I ended up sleeping a few hours on the living room floor until the bedroom cooled down a bit, with the help of a fan that the hotel finally provided.

Other rokm features: there is a single queen bed in there with one foot of space around it. That's all. No room for your luggage at all. The bathroom is tiny as well and the living room/kitchen area is cramped. There is both a dinging table with 4 chairs and a single two seater couch, but if you want to use the dining table you'll have to move the couch aside, or you won't be able to squeeze between the chairs and the table. You are facing the back of the hotel, on the road in between the doubletree and the residence building. It is noisy with a lit of traffic passing there, even jn the early morning. And the room is half a level up from the hallway, with a staircase directly behind the door, which is a major hassle with luggage. The kitchen has an oven, microwave, hob and large fridge, but is limited on utensils. No cutting board, no oven gloves or anyrhing similar (we eventually used a wetted bathroom towel), exactly two forks, two knives, two plates, etc. The bed was very soft, to a level what I would consider sagged. The balcony was quite large, but not much use. You are besides a road, all the doubletree rooms are looking down on you and the condenser for the aircon is the main furniture piece on the balcony. They should have used that vakuable floor space for the room.


1BR Residence entry

1BR residence tiny master bedroom

1BR residence kitchen and living room.

1BR residence suite tiny bathroom


After one night, we moved to a standard deluxe king with "lake view" on the reception floor (1401). That room is much, much better appointed and more roomy. Large and well appointed bathroom, central aircon that has some airflow over the bed, seating area with the same two seater couch as well as an additional 1 seater, a small balcony, a mini fridge and a limited view of a corner of the lake. So except for for the full kitchen and dining table, you are far better off in a regular room. The higher floor rooms probably do have an actual lake view, as they will have you look over the front building.

I was offered the two bedroom lakeview residence after the first night, but declined as that room has no aircon in the bedroom either. All the residence rooms just have a split unit aircon in the living room. The regular hotel rooms have a classic duct based system with central controls.

Breakfast is very good with very friendly staff. We got the full breakfast option included as diamond. Self parking was comped as we did not get an upgrade, although I would have preferred the wakapito or (even better), the relaxation suite over the comped parking.

The pool is very long but narrow and there are a lot of kids in there, up to closure time (10pm). So getting a few laps in is hard, navigating in between kids continuously jumping in or worse, bombing. Too bad they don't have a few adults only hours or leave the pool area open 24/7.

Other benefits we got: 2 drink vouchers per night and a box of 6 (very good) chocolates as welcome gift. Service and staff attention is very good.


"Lake view" from room 1401

So overall it's a very nice property. Just keep far away from the residence rooms until they refit those with an aircon in the bedroom. And try to get either a room in the front building or a room on floor 6 or 7 for some real lakeview.

markis10

I cannot imagine aircon is a big deal in ZQN for probably ten months of the year, heaters are a different story and I note one in the bedroom. I suppose it all comes down to what your used to with airflow.

roelb

Well, the bedroom got close to 30C and never cooled down after the sun went down. Loads of sandflies around, so opening the outside doors not a good idea. So yes, it is an issue in summer with temperatures into the high 20's till late at night and a very intense sun. And with room rates of $450 a night, one expects a few basic room amenities.

Anyway, the rooms in the hotel itself are very good, with good central aircon. It's just the residence building that had no aircon at all in the past, but has been retrofitted with units in the living room only.

by the way, I've seen remarks about the route to the carpark through the Doubletree. I just found out this morning that there is an interior route: go down to floor 2 in the hotel and walk through the tunnel to the residence building. Take the first elevator there to floor 1. Exit the elevator and take two right turns. End of the hallway exits into level P2 of the garage. It is not on any signs until you get out of the last elevator.

sbiddle

I stayed here on the weekend for a couple of nights. Queenstown is getting a lot busier now so there were reasonable numbers of people at the hotel.

My last few stays there were as a Diamond but now I'm Gold. Had a one category upgrade to a Deluxe lakeview room (1402 so photos are very similar to 1401 shown above). No drink vouchers or chocolates unlike previous stays (I know people who have had these previously as Gold so I'm not sure if these are still being offered to Diamond or are gone completely), but the wine bar is closed at present anyway.

Free breakfast is the new AU/NZ standard of free continental or $10 extra pp for the full buffet

MacKenzie333

Looking to stay in March 2023 with myself and my 2 young boys (6 & 8). The Hilton pictures make the rooms look pretty large. Any reason I can't "squeeze" 4 into a "King Hilton Guestroom"? I am lifetime diamond but I don't want to bank on an upgrade. The kids don't need beds they are fine in blankets and pillows on the floor if that's all there is.

In the USA I wouldn't think twice about ignoring the occupancy limits, in EU I'd expect to it to be an issue, not sure about NZ.

Thanks!

davidcat86

I just had a stay in Dec during christmas time at Queenstown Hilton resort. We have 2 adults and 2 kids ( 6 and 8). We ended up booking two connecting rooms. The room seems not big enough to set up a rollway bed. I don't think people will ask. So it you want to have kids sleep on the floor, it is probably fine.

We had a good stay there though. They waived the valet parking fee for us. Also buffet breakfast is great without charge for the diamond members. Our kids like the heated pool there.

frmnj

Was interested in booking for 2 adults and 2 young kids and called the hotel. Based on conversation decided not to book and stay at the less expensive Holiday Inn down the road:

- only continental breakfast for diamonds, same as gold. $10 up charge per person for hot items, so that would cost us $40 each morning. I can order hot breakfast at the HI for a bit more
- no lounge
- parking is $16 per day while it’s free for Plat at HI
- they said for 2 adults and 2 kids we would need to book the 2 bedroom residences (which are more than 2x HI rates and would preclude any Diamond upgrades since those are the highest category) or book two separate rooms (same as HI)
- I asked the front desk agent about Diamond benefits, and she said free water, mobile checkin, continental breakfast. I understood that as basically no real benefit.

davidcat86

The continental breakfast was pretty good and has a good variety there. I didn't even notice the hot item they offer on that day. Parking for diamond member could probably be waived if you talk with them. They waived my valet parking. Diamond member here.
It may be an issue though to set up a rollaway bed due to the room size.

FrontSeatLeft

Wrapped up a quick two nights here earlier this week on the back end of a longer trip to Queenstown. This was my fourth stay at the property, but first since Dec 2019.

Pros:

• The setting remains picturesque - the hotel is perfectly situated on the shore of Lake Wakatipu with lovely views all around.
• The water pressure in the shower was noticeably strong.
• I stayed in a 2BR lakefront apartment, which included plenty of space, a large balcony fronting the lake, a full kitchen and laundry facilities.
• Staff at breakfast was friendly and welcoming.

Cons:

• Service has declined from my pre-pandemic visits, although this may be due in part to staffing challenges (there were 'service required' signs all over Queenstown). On previous visits, I was given drink tickets, a welcome box of chocolates, and turndown service, all of which were absent this time.
• As mentioned by others, the Diamond breakfast, which formerly included access to the full buffet, is now continental-only, with a $10 upcharge if you want to include hot items. While the hotel is technically still following the published Diamond benefit, the nickel-and-dime feel was off-putting, especially compared to my previous stop at the Holiday Inn Express Queenstown, which included a full, hot breakfast buffet free for all guests, well above the HIX brand standard.
• The area around the hotel is much less active than it once was. The Lake Counter deli/café and Me and Mee Chinese restaurant are both completely closed with signage removed. Stacks Pub had just re-opened, but with very limited hours (pretty much just dinner hours on weekends). For most of the week, Wakatipu Grill is the only dining option, with a limited menu and high prices. Not sure if there are plans to open other outlets as guests return, but offerings are very limited right now. I didn't use room service, but the menu cautions to expect a 1-2 hour wait.
• Each time I've stayed here, the hotel has been pretty strict about the 4 PM check-in time. I don't remember ever getting into a room before 4. This time, I arrived around 2:00 and sat in the lobby for about two hours, finally receiving the "room ready" text around 4:15. Could have been caused by low staffing issue, but I distinctly remembered similar issues pre-pandemic.

I've had some delightful stays at this property, but probably would not return. For me, at least, the Hilton Queenstown no longer offers value that outweighs staying near the town center.

SkyTeam777

Is parking still waived for elites?
Is there still a free shuttle and water boat into town?