First Imperial Hotel, Auckland

Advantages: beautiful location, fantastic staff
Disadvantages: you cannot walk to the city

...We decided to book Spencer on Byron as our first stop in New Zealand as this hotel had the best reviews on a rival site, and was within our budget at about £40 per night. We landed in Auckland at 11 pm, tired after a 24 long trip from London. As Spencer on Byron is right across town, we got a good look of Auckland at night - beautiful. The taxi driver actually asked us how come we had picked that hotel as most tourists want to be closer to the city. At this stage we started to feel a bit worried about our choice, as in my experience taxi drivers are a good source of information on where to go and what to do. However, after a 35-40 minute long drive much of it through green luscious suburbs, we arrived at the hotel. The taxi ride cost us $80, including tips (you do not need to tip in New Zealand, but old habits die hard). As we... Read review

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Advantages: comfortable quiet rooms,hotel situated conveniently for access to the City CBD, and 20 minutes maximum from Auckland International Airport
Disadvantages: poor timing on our part, we arrived at reception early evening just after 2 parties,quite a wait as a result

....Central Auckland is 10 to 15 minutes away Reception was busy and involved a longish wait for room allocation as we followed 2 coach parties in. Our room was spacious with 2 queen size beds, comfortable, , looking out onto a central courtyard ( with heated swimming pool which we did not have an opportunity to use) through patio doors.Even though the hotel was busy on both occasions that we stayed there, the room was still quiet.Facilities were good:satellite TV,coffee making,internet access,and what we found particularly welcome the first class breakfasts taken in room.Brilliant value and a fine start to the day at just over NZ$12 per head.....fresh croissant and percolatedcoffee,fruit, yoghurt, cereal,fruit juice, what more could you want? Main hotel facilities include lifts to upper floors,a small gift shop, and a well appointed restaurant... Read review

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Advantages: A landmark hotel
Disadvantages: It's a long way from home

...for it but if you aren't expecting it, the tax can be a shocker and turns a good bargain into a bit of a let-down and can spoil an otherwise great experience. Why did I want to go to the Imperial? ******************************** The Imperial is one of the world's greatest hotels - it's the kind of place where you don't have to say 'The Imperial Hotel, Delhi' any more than you'd have to call Raffles 'The Raffles Hotel, Singapore'. The hotel's website is www.theimperialindia.com - what a great name! Even they don't have to explain themselves. The Imperial was the first of the almost legendary 'Four Maidens of the East' - the Strand Hotel in Rangoon, Raffles in Singpore and the Great Eastern and Oriental in Calcutta are the other three. So reason number one for staying at The Imperial - sheer unadulterated SNOB VALUE. About 6 years ago we took... Read review

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