DoubleTree by Hilton Wellington {NZL}
#17
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,055
Around that part of town it can still be busy until around 6-7pm, but getting a park in nearby streets will be pretty easy. Street parking is free from 6pm until 8am, but just be aware some nearby areas (incl the East side of Featherston St) is a clearway area from 7am - 9am and you will be towed if you park there.
#18
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: I'm From Here
Programs: AC*SE & MM/*Wood Gold/HHonors Diamond/Marriott Silver/AirMiles Gold
Posts: 4,554
So, I am in night 2 of a three night stay here.
It is a beautiful hotel with a lot of charm. As mentioned the elevators are unique. Checkin area is very small but organized. There is a mini-cafe right behind it. Ironically enough, it isn't manned and when I asked for a coffee they brought it down from the restaurant.
As a diamond, I was upgraded to an x02 room. These are Junior suites and are very nice. Comfortable bed.
The water pressure is surprisingly week but fine. I just expected a little bit more. The junior suite comes with a ceiling mounted rain shower head and stand alone bathtub.
The room also comes with two TVs, which while makes sense is also kind of funny when you look at how close they are. Annoyingly the HDMI ports are directly on the back, rather than the side so it was a pain in the ... to plug in my Chromecast. There is no Lodgenet or any such nonsense which is nice and input switching was no problem.
Received a free drink cert for each night of my stay which is a nice touch and a welcome desert was waiting for me in my room.
A funny quirk of the room. Decided to try out the Nspresso style machine was I was too lazy to leave the room. Took me a while to find the coffee cups as they are behind you under the second TV, in a cabinet with no clear glass to see inside. It was funny and clearly they did not have a great place to put it.
Breakfast is DoubleTree standard. The usual buffet and made to order eggs. The bacon was surprisingly crispy and delicious (for buffet bacon). Coffee was instant but you could order Espresso coffee from the bar. There was no mention of any additional charges for that. That could of course change when I receive the room bill.
Wifi is fast but there is no Splash Screen/Login. Just click Hilton Honors and you are online.
I generally tend to stay at the Ibis in Wellington primarily due to the location and given that this one is down the street, I cannot complain about the location either.
There is still work being done to this hotel and not all the rooms are available yet. It seems the breakfast/bar floor is only open for such. Looking down the hallway you can see all the rooms under construction.
I don't know if it is coincidence but I suspect the x02 rooms are the primary 'upgrade' rooms for status visitors. I only assume that because each x02 room was represented at breakfast this morning all at the same time.
Overall, I cannot find any faults with this property. Staff are still learning but are very friendly, room is very nice. Not much more one can ask from a hotel. 9/10 would stay here again.
Some pictures of the room
It is a beautiful hotel with a lot of charm. As mentioned the elevators are unique. Checkin area is very small but organized. There is a mini-cafe right behind it. Ironically enough, it isn't manned and when I asked for a coffee they brought it down from the restaurant.
As a diamond, I was upgraded to an x02 room. These are Junior suites and are very nice. Comfortable bed.
The water pressure is surprisingly week but fine. I just expected a little bit more. The junior suite comes with a ceiling mounted rain shower head and stand alone bathtub.
The room also comes with two TVs, which while makes sense is also kind of funny when you look at how close they are. Annoyingly the HDMI ports are directly on the back, rather than the side so it was a pain in the ... to plug in my Chromecast. There is no Lodgenet or any such nonsense which is nice and input switching was no problem.
Received a free drink cert for each night of my stay which is a nice touch and a welcome desert was waiting for me in my room.
A funny quirk of the room. Decided to try out the Nspresso style machine was I was too lazy to leave the room. Took me a while to find the coffee cups as they are behind you under the second TV, in a cabinet with no clear glass to see inside. It was funny and clearly they did not have a great place to put it.
Breakfast is DoubleTree standard. The usual buffet and made to order eggs. The bacon was surprisingly crispy and delicious (for buffet bacon). Coffee was instant but you could order Espresso coffee from the bar. There was no mention of any additional charges for that. That could of course change when I receive the room bill.
Wifi is fast but there is no Splash Screen/Login. Just click Hilton Honors and you are online.
I generally tend to stay at the Ibis in Wellington primarily due to the location and given that this one is down the street, I cannot complain about the location either.
There is still work being done to this hotel and not all the rooms are available yet. It seems the breakfast/bar floor is only open for such. Looking down the hallway you can see all the rooms under construction.
I don't know if it is coincidence but I suspect the x02 rooms are the primary 'upgrade' rooms for status visitors. I only assume that because each x02 room was represented at breakfast this morning all at the same time.
Overall, I cannot find any faults with this property. Staff are still learning but are very friendly, room is very nice. Not much more one can ask from a hotel. 9/10 would stay here again.
Some pictures of the room
#19
Join Date: May 2018
Location: MEL
Programs: VA-PLT, QF-PLT, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold
Posts: 19
"Wifi is fast but there is no Splash Screen/Login. Just click Hilton Honors and you are online. "
They were having some trouble with the Wifi using room specific login last week . They gave me a default password and connection was still dropping out. I presume they have removed that system for time being till they fix it.
They were having some trouble with the Wifi using room specific login last week . They gave me a default password and connection was still dropping out. I presume they have removed that system for time being till they fix it.
#20
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: I'm From Here
Programs: AC*SE & MM/*Wood Gold/HHonors Diamond/Marriott Silver/AirMiles Gold
Posts: 4,554
Just a quick follow up
They do charge for Espresso Coffee with breakfast. The staff were not trained to actually inform customers of said charge. They had no arguments taking it off my bill.
They do charge for Espresso Coffee with breakfast. The staff were not trained to actually inform customers of said charge. They had no arguments taking it off my bill.
#22
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Wellington, NZ
Programs: NZ *Gold
Posts: 1,371
Had a one night stay here on Friday, and echo what other posters have said. Beautiful renovation, very friendly staff, great location between Lambton Quay and the Waterfront. Wellington is extremely walkable, and this is in a great spot. Upgraded one category from the normal king room to a king superior - two floors (5 and 6) are marked as Honors floors, 7 is the top floor. Drink coupon in the room, full breakfast (although as indicted does not include the a la carte), robe, slippers. Only thing missing was the two bottles of water, which I only realised when I was about to turn in. Will be here at least one night a month now, I like it much better than the Bolton and it's much cheaper than the Sofitel.
#23
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Auckland, NZ
Programs: Hilton HHonors Diamond; Celebrity Elite Plus. Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer
Posts: 44
Another great stay on Monday night. Welcomed back, very positively. After my first stay, I offered feedback, and was thanked for a suggested improvement idea, which has been implemented to modify the location of a facility for ease of use. The team were mainly people I had met before. All the Diamond courtesies offered, and even more pleasing, was given the suite "01", as it is at the end of the corridor, where the building is widest.
Lounge area.
Bed [between entry/bathroom and lounge/window].
From the lounge back to the door entry.
Bathroom.
I have eaten in the hotel's Spring restaurant three times - this visit, the Lamb Shanks Roganjosh exceeded the Chicken Cannelloni of the previous visit, which just beat the pork belly into third place. There are currently lunch specials attempting to encourage local workers to experience the restaurant. If I lived in Wellington, it would easily be my "go to" restaurant, far better than many of the commercial, well known restaurants on the waterfront [and very value priced]. A very suitable place for dinner out and celebratory meals. The kitchen is visible [and audible - in a great way] from the dining area, and service is welcoming. If you do choose to stay elsewhere, then have a dinner treat at Spring. I am not usually one for dining in the hotel restaurant - my modus operandi in Wellington is completely reversed. AND..so central on Lambton Quay, almost midway between the Station and Maners Street/Courtney Place. Roll on December for my next two night stay!
Lounge area.
Bed [between entry/bathroom and lounge/window].
From the lounge back to the door entry.
Bathroom.
I have eaten in the hotel's Spring restaurant three times - this visit, the Lamb Shanks Roganjosh exceeded the Chicken Cannelloni of the previous visit, which just beat the pork belly into third place. There are currently lunch specials attempting to encourage local workers to experience the restaurant. If I lived in Wellington, it would easily be my "go to" restaurant, far better than many of the commercial, well known restaurants on the waterfront [and very value priced]. A very suitable place for dinner out and celebratory meals. The kitchen is visible [and audible - in a great way] from the dining area, and service is welcoming. If you do choose to stay elsewhere, then have a dinner treat at Spring. I am not usually one for dining in the hotel restaurant - my modus operandi in Wellington is completely reversed. AND..so central on Lambton Quay, almost midway between the Station and Maners Street/Courtney Place. Roll on December for my next two night stay!
Last edited by PeterBruce; Sep 12, 2018 at 4:03 pm Reason: correct spelling
#24
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,109
Overall had a nice stay here as well-the hotel is a wonderful property with nice rooms and great staff. The one issue I had is with check-in, when there was no elite recognition whatsoever. While I don't expect or want much in terms of recognition I would at least like to at minimum have the particular MyWay benefit I selected mentioned or preferably offered a choice between the benefits, which I don't think is asking much. The front desk staff tried to sell me a room upgrade and breakfast at check-in (this was particularly bad since my MyWay settings are set for breakfast and I wasn't asked whether I wanted breakfast or points and she automatically went with points without asking).
#25
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: I'm From Here
Programs: AC*SE & MM/*Wood Gold/HHonors Diamond/Marriott Silver/AirMiles Gold
Posts: 4,554
Overall had a nice stay here as well-the hotel is a wonderful property with nice rooms and great staff. The one issue I had is with check-in, when there was no elite recognition whatsoever. While I don't expect or want much in terms of recognition I would at least like to at minimum have the particular MyWay benefit I selected mentioned or preferably offered a choice between the benefits, which I don't think is asking much. The front desk staff tried to sell me a room upgrade and breakfast at check-in (this was particularly bad since my MyWay settings are set for breakfast and I wasn't asked whether I wanted breakfast or points and she automatically went with points without asking).
#28
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: SIN/BNE
Posts: 808
PeterBruce--thanks for the great pix. The Intercontinental is an excellent property--this will make choosing where to stay in Wellington next time very difficult.
Staying here this week. Overall I am really glad that we finally have a Hilton property in Wellington.
Positives:
Positives:
- They have done an amazing job renovating that old building while still keeping the charm.
- Loved the wooden doors on the old elevators.
- Got one level upgrade and 3 complimentary drink vouchers for 3 nights.
- Being a diamond, I was given the full buffet breakfast, but ordering from Ala carte menu was extra.
- Gym was tiny. Super tiny - you can barely fit 3 people in there.
- Room I had was overlooking into the office cubicles next door.
- Amenities weren't replaced in bathroom and some issues with the room service. But I believe this will get much better with time. Staff was super nice and helpful.
- No turn down service
#30
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: bne
Programs: Velocity Gold, AIRNZ Elite, Qantas Silver ,Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,303