Copthorne Hotel Wellington, Oriental Bay, Wellington

INTRODUCTION

Onwards on our tour of New Zealand, myself and Ms Larsbaby spent a few days in the capital, Wellington, travelling from Auckland via the Overlander train. Booking through Trailfinders, we chose the Copthorne Hotel as it seemed to be in a decent location.

COPTHORNE

The hotel is indeed in a good location on the edge of the Wellington harbour front, near to various bars on Courtenay Place and across the water from the exceptional national museum, Te Papa. A New World supermarket is close by, handy for basic provisions. It's maybe a 15 minute walk to the train station though, which may be a consideration. A cursory look at the building and reception leads you to the conclusion that it's very new due to its shiny, pristine appearance. We got a free room upgrade and also, thanks to our agent Trailfinders, a free breakfast which at first they didn't want to give us until we showed our invoice, as they apparently hadn't been informed of this. I think the receptionist was a bit miffed she'd upgraded us only to find we'd got another trick up our sleeves.

THE RECEPTION

The reception area was to the right of the main entrance, with the lifts straight ahead as you walked in. Reception was a quite large area, with an unattended desk to the left of the entrance which may have been concierge service. A computer was on a desk in the window to the left, with some high seats. To the right in the main reception area were several sofas next to the windows accompanied by low glass topped wooden coffee tables, on green rugs over the cream tiled floor. A wall mounted LCD TV was to the right of the reception desk, which itself was in front of the sofas.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast was served on the 7th floor, and as you exited the lift, immediately in front was an area of green, red and brown sofas with an LCD TV on the wall and a small bar to the right with some high chairs. To the right of this bar was the breakfast area. This had a carpet with green and wavy patterns, with several wooden tables seating 2-4 people, all with dark brown wooden chairs with red fabric seats and backs. A nice arrangement of jams and a butter dish was on each table.

The breakfast was buffet service, the counter being to the left, facing a large window to the right which had an excellent view of the bay with its elevated location. This was a very relaxing area, with easy listening music being played. There was a great variety of things to choose from. Six metal platters contained the warm dishes; eggs, bacon, mushrooms, potato cakes, sausages and tomatoes. There was a selection of breads, croissants and muffins. Some fruit and nuts were available, as was a selection of cereals such as muesli and corn flakes. You could even choose from light or normal fat milk. Orange juice, grapefruit juice and water were also available. One thing I really liked was yoghurt topped with fruit puree served in large glasses, which was very tasty, the bitter yoghurt and sweet puree complementing eachother well. The muesli was also nice. I also tried some of the cooked items, of which the potato cakes were particularly melt in the mouth tasty, smooth pureed and creamy, filled with bits of onion. I also tried the small tasty croissants and a square apple filled roll which was great. Tea and coffee was served to your table, with friendly waiters and waitresses politely requesting your order. Tea came in a smart little teapot.

THE ROOM

The room we got was huge, in the Bay Wing overlooking the waterfront, complete with a balcony for us to look over. It was even split into 2 sections. As you walked in, to the right a kind of side room had 2 single beds side by side. A wall mounted bedside table was between them. A full length mirror above ground level was on the wall facing the beds. Further forward was the main bedroom area. The room had cream walls, and on the wall to the left of the TV was a small print of 3 flowers which was quite nice. The plush carpeted floor had a black mosaic pattern. A big, comfortable double bed (maybe even King size) with a shiny green patterned bedspread was against the right wall as you entered the room, with a big fabric covered headboard behind it. On each side was a small dark wooden bedside table, hanging attached from the wall. The right one had a telephone, pen and small notepad, the left one an alarm clock. Some way above these were small conical white bedside lights, also attached to the wall. On the opposite wall, in a dark wooden wall panel was an LCD TV. Below this, also set into the wall, was a glass doored mini bar which could be lit up by a small inside light, which I thought was nice styling. This contained 2 wine glasses, crisps, sweets, wine and spirits. The TV has 10 channels, including TV New Zealand 1-4, a Maori channel, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and CNN International.

To the left of the bed was a large dark brown wooden cupboard. One large compartment had a rail with 2 bath robes hanging from it. An ironing board, iron and suitcase rack were also enclosed. The other, smaller compartment to the right had another rail and a safe which you could set the combination of, a hairdryer and a couple of spare pillows. Two drawers were also contained here, with an extra blanket. Between these 2 high compartments was a lower compartment with shelf that contains a kettle, some UMT milk sachets and three cups and spoons. On top was a box of teas, containing green and earl grey teas, along with hot chocolate, coffee, sweetener and sugar. Under the cupboards was a fridge with a selection of soft drinks, beers and wines.

To the right of the TV was a dark wooden desk, which had a hotel restaurant menu, hotel guide and Ethernet cable on top. A drawer contained local travel magazines. Under the desk was a wooden bin and a wooden chair with grey wooden seat & back. The window was to the right of the desk was a large window and balcony facing onto the main street. Next to the window was an orange easy chair with built in footrest and a small striped cushion. I found this chair to be very comfortable. Perhaps surprisingly, this was still a quiet room and we were never disturbed by noise from the street.

BATHROOM

To the left of the bed was the white tiled bathroom. A square white sink on top of a marble grey effect surface was in from of the door to the left. The sink plug was a very impressive spring loaded arrangement. This also had some tissues, 2 glasses and toiletries, including flannels, body lotion, conditioning shampoo and cotton buds. A bin was under the sink. To the right was the bath with a modern looking shower attachment. Modern looking towel rails were over the top of the loo, to the right of the shower. The floor had large rectangular cream tiles, and was very clean. Indeed the whole bathroom had a gleaming, seamless, modern sheen to it, down to the trendy light fittings and fitted ceiling lights. The shower was good, the mixer tap being very efficient. Even the towels were well thought out, ribbed to help aid the drying process, which really impressed me.

CONCLUSION

I can't recall staying in a hotel where I noticed so many well thought out little touches all around it. Being very new probably helped, and I was highly impressed with the whole experience. I can highly recommend this hotel for any holidaymaker in Wellington. It's excellent location and facilities give a good impression of the city.

CONTACT DETAILS

Copthorne Hotel Wellington Oriental Bay,
Wellington,
New Zealand.

Tel : +64 4 385 0279
Fax : +64 4 384 5324

Email : copthorne.orientalbay@millenniumhotels.c​o.nz

Website : http://www.millenniumhotels.co.nz/coptho​rneorienta lbay/