eddyooi

Hi. Am headed out to Hilton Auckland next week. Booked their basic room with partial sea views (continental bfast and evening drinks included for NZD 295). Does Hilton Auckland usually upgrade their Gold VIP members to a better room? Appreciate any heads-up. Thanks.

dcadude

That's a good package for this property offered with some regularity. Thanks for the post...the deal is good for my stay in a few weeks and is cheaper than the NZ$354 rate I had!

Looks like at least one gold has received an upgrade.

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=490048

While we're on the topic of the Hilton Auckland, any recommendations for the best way to get to there from an early morning arrival at the airport?

Kiwi Flyer

How many of you are there and do you have bags? If 2+ and with lots of bags, I'd take cab which will run to about NZD60.

Cheapest is www.airbus.co.nz (NZD15 one way or 22 return - print out the coupon for a NZD1 saving), get dropped off at Copthorne on Quay Street and from there it's a walk down the wharf (200m). Will take 20 minutes longer than a cab since it goes past most city hotels before reaching your stop (way back to airport much quicker). Runs every 20 minutes and the airport stop at international terminal has GPS display of time until next bus.

In between cost & time are the shuttles. They only leave when driver has enough pax (varies depending on how long been waiting and how many flights have just arrived). May have several stops en route to drop off other pax. Cost is I think around NZD25 one way (with a discount on 2+ pax).

upgrader

As HH Gold, Ms. upgrader and I received in January of this year an upgrade (fitting, right?) to a water view room and coupons for both of us for breakfast. Sorry to hear that may not be the case anymore. On the last day of our stay, we awoke and stepped on to our balcony to see an upper deck of a large cruise ship right across from us. I think we were on the fourth floor of the hotel. Some may be distressed by such a sight but we thought it was very exhilarating. Most of the passengers had disembarked so we were just enjoying looking into their staterooms while sipping coffee in our plush bathrobes on our balcony. The hotel is very much in the shape of a cruise ship itself and sticks out from the land much as a ship does as it docks. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The ship blocked our view a bit on our last day in the hotel but before that we had a wonderful open view of the harbor and beyond. The breakfast buffet was very elaborate and a bit fancy so we had to act somewhat sophisticated so that was a small bother. Otherwise the stay was delightful and the location was terrific for walking the city as well as connecting to out-island ferries. As I recall, we took one of the shuttles from the airport and while we did have to wait about ten minutes for the van to fill (this was at 8AM) there were only two quick stops between the airport and the Hilton and we did save some money that way. We also got to talk with two other very nice couples from other parts of the world than we. The whole time in Auckland was a pleasure.

GUWonder

Going back to even when I first stayed there during the Louis Vuitton Cup a couple of years back, the Hilton Auckland has been hit and miss in terms of Gold/Diamond benefits when it comes to upgrades at least. The property is very nice and I'd venture to say still my preferred place in Auckland, but I wouldn't go in with great expectations that Diamond or Golds get upgrades any more consistently than an HHonors Blue or non-HHonors member. That said, they do upgrade often enough but sometimes it's very hard to tell even when the hotel claims you've been upgraded.

dcadude

Thanks, Kiwi Flyer. You are single-handedly answering most of my questions for this AKL trip (many Qs on the NZ Air Points board).

Sorry to pull this thread into a bit of a tangent. Will report back after my stay re: upgrades or notable factoids.

holtju2

Have to say that I loved sipping cocktailst at the Bellini bar, although I was staying at a different property.

SkiAdcock

Don't take the city bus if you have a lot of luggage!

When I was there in '04 I asked if it stopped at the Hilton (was told yes) & was dropped on (presumably Quay street) & had to struggle w/ luggage down Quay & then down the dock. It was long & painful! I expected the driver to drop me at the Hilton when I asked if it stopped at the hotel. Not the way I wanted to start my trip to New Zealand (rest of trip went great though).

I think I took Super Shuttle back to the airport.

I really like this hotel & would definitely stay there again. White, the hotel restaurant, is fabulous. Also enjoyed having drinks in the bar. Great views from both White & the bar. My room had good ones too.

If your room is not ready when you get there in the morning, the hotel will offer to store your luggage & tell you you can access the health club (which has showers) while waiting. I did the treadmill, showered, & wandered around a bit, and then went back to hotel, at which point room was ready.

Cheers.

Kiwi Flyer

SkiAdcock - IIRC from your nice trip report that you were dropped off further down Quay Street near the tourist shop and bus depot. The Copthorne stop is opposite the entrance to the wharf.

UA_Eagle

Hi,

I was checking into room rates at Auckland Hilton to get a sense of their rates for a upcoming trip to AKL next May, and was unable to find ANY availabilities at all. Poking around some more with the dates show that room availabilities suddenly disappeared Feb 1, 2007 onward.

Are they only not accepting books for stays more than 6 months in advance or is there something going on (like the hotel leaving Hilton on Feb 1st)? A check of AKL Hilton's web site didn't turn up any announcement of them leaving--but then I wouldn't really expect them to publize that kind of news.

Does anyone know anything about what's going on with AKL Hilton?

Bondiboy

I would guess that AKL have not loaded their rates for the period beyond Feb 2007.

Call the service certer to confirm.

Kiwi Flyer

That would be my guess too. FWIW I haven't heard anything about Auckland Hilton leaving the chain (on the contrary sounds like Hilton want to expand in NZ once they get suitable properties).

connex2me

This is good news! ^
Any ideas which locations they are looking at?

Kiwi Flyer

The usual suspects - Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Rotorua. I doubt we'll see Hiltons at all these any time soon, but one or two would be nice.

eddyooi

Thought I would just do a quick update. Am staying at the Hilton Auckland now. Booked a cruise package which included a basic room and 2 free breakfasts at White restaurant and 2 drinks at Bellini. Checked in by the Asst Manager who was extremely polite and efficient. I asked if there was a members' lounge, he said no. But he gave me a voucher for a welcome drink at Bellini (so I had a total of 3 drinks that evening), an upgrade to a full harbour view looking out to Devonport, amenities in the room which included a plate of fresh cut fruits, chocolates and 'Antipodes' still water. All that for just Gold. Even my requests for non smoking room, being close to lifts and king size bed were all honoured. I was very impressed.

My room is on the fifth floor and the views were exhilirating. Different hues and colours in the morning, evening and night added to the fact that I could see both the opposite coast and the city from my balcony; these all made for great photo opportunities. The Pacific Star (London registered) sailed in this morning and it was great to look at a cruise ship from above down.

Truly an outstanding boutique property!