The Westin, Auckland, New Zealand

First time at the Westin in Auckland…

Asked the cabbie on the way from the airport what the goss was and he said, that according to other travelers, it was a decent hotel.

Arrive Sunday evening, its warmish and humid out there, and it was just on twilight, as we arrived… and driving upto the hotel you could tell that it was going to be an expensive week.

The Westin, Auckland, New Zealand

The Westin down by the harbour, on Viaduct Harbour Avenue, a short walk to the CBD and office. There are also heaps of restaurants, albeit relatively expensive, close by.

Some rooms would have a nice harbour view. I, however, had a view, across the road, into Microsoft, HP and Vodafone.

Viaduct Harbour Avenue can get busy at times, and since the hotel is only 5 stories high, you will get the occasional noise from passing traffic (and I was on the top floor).

The room itself was well appointed, a huge flat screen TV, which you would expect  in a new hotel, that rotated to allow you to view it from the couch or from bed, but on an angle, not straight on.

The bed was firm, but the pillows were a little too soft for my liking.

The bathroom was large, with a shower and a bath.

I did have room service a couple of times, and I would recommend the beef burger, though they did manage to bugger up one of the orders, but they fixed their error pretty quick smart.

A word of warning for people though… the bar is expensive! You expect hotels to charge a premium, but when you are getting slugged $15 or $16 for a stubbie of beer, that’s just price gouging. We ended up heading off to drink at local bars rather than the hotel.

A good hotel that I would stay at again… I just hope they review the price of the food and drink.