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During our trip planning we'd initially planned to start our time in New Zealand in Auckland so we booked that city as the destination for our flights from the US. As our plans changed over time and we decided to start in Christchurch we decided to spend a night in Auckland rather than jumping right on a domestic flight as we had no idea whether or not our flights would all be on time (they were) or if our luggage would make it with us (it did). That meant we needed to find an airport-area hotel to spend one night.
I looked high and low to try to find a single room with three beds and had no luck at all. My IHG credit card comes with a free night for hotels up to 40K points per night. We booked one room using that certificate and a second using points. When my card renewed in July and I got another certificate, we canceled the points reservation and used that second certificate for rooms at the Holiday Inn Auckland Airport.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Main Entrance |
Reaching the airport was fairly easy. There's a yellow bus that's a shuttle for a number of hotels in the area and it's pretty cheap though it's obviously not the most direct method of getting to the hotel. But it pulled up right to the front door to let us out.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Front Door |
I don't think of Auckland as particularly tropical yet there were palm trees on the property.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport |
The check-in process was efficient and we were informed about the restaurant's hours (breakfast 0530-1000, dinner until 2130) and the bar's hours (until 2200). I found it a little odd the bar closed before the restaurant but it didn't really matter either way. Though I hold Platinum status with IHG (thanks to the credit card) that's not worth much, as IHG doesn't give free breakfast to anyone, which is just annoying.
This hotel is only two stories and is surprisingly sprawling for an airport hotel. It would seem that various wings were added at different times as on some floors you had to climb or descend a few stairs when moving from wing to wing. To reach our room we walked past the front desk, by the conference rooms on one side and the bar and restaurant on the other, then took a left through the breezeway.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Breezeway |
There were doors in this breezeway that opened on to the patio and pool area though it was early enough in springtime that those weren't opened just yet.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Pool and Patio |
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| Chess, anyone? |
I'd emailed the hotel prior to our arrival to ensure that one of our rooms had two beds and to see if they could at least be close together if not next to each other. When we arrived we found that the rooms were next to each other but both had only one bed. Our preference was to get one room with two beds so we were in separate hallways though both were on the ground floor so it wasn't a huge deal.
Guest Room
The room C and I split (birthday girl D got her own room) had a typical hotel room layout with the bathroom immediately on the left upon entering and a wardrobe directly across from that. The beds and desk were a few steps past that. In place of the second bed, D had a chaise longue in her room.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Double Room Bedding |
The rooms had a little bit of a musty smell but were clean and the air conditioning worked enough to make that a non-issue. The decor could use a refresh but since we were only here one night we didn't care.
There was very little furniture in the room. A single wall-mounted nightstand between the two beds, a desk and chair across from the beds along with a wall-mounted TV. There were no electrical outlets near the bed (not good) but four by the desk that were easy to reach (very good).
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Double Room Desk and TV |
The wardrobe was pretty large with an area for hanging clothes, a luggage rack, four drawers, a closeable closet area and well as one section for the mini-fridge and coffee/tea station.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Wardrobe |
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Mini-Fridge |
The fridge actually had a lock on it. We didn't try to use it but I don't think I've ever seen that.
The closet held the safe, iron and ironing board as well as an extra blanket.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Closet |
The bathroom wasn't huge but since there was only one sink there was plenty of counter space and a whole shelf below it for anything we'd need to store there.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Sink |
The tub shower was across from the sink and I would've liked it if the spray had been stronger but at least there was plenty of hot water.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Shower/Tub |
Toiletries were IHG's own SOAK brand.
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| Holiday Inn Auckland Airport Toiletries |
Dining
Since there wasn't a big choice of food within walking distance (except for other hotels) we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Our server was extremely slow and I don't know if she was busy doing other work things or was spending her time out back on her phone or just what. It took awhile to get our food but then forever to get our check when it was time to pay the bill.
Breakfast is buffet-style and you pay before entering. I chose the cold version which had cereal, fruit, pastries and beverages though the hot option was also available with eggs and bacon, etc.
Gym
The gym is surprisingly large with a very decent array of cardio machines and free weights. The outdoor pool is also open seasonally for those wanting a swim.
Final Thoughts
In general I was pleased with this hotel and it suited our purposes wonderfully. I'd love it if IHG would make more than the basic room available on points or with certificates but we used what we had and for free, it was great.
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