Alice checks into the Holiday Inn Express Auckland CBD and checks out its quirky new feature: a breakfast alarm clock in your room! Here’s Alice’s review!
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Hotel class: ****
Location: 9 Wyndham Street, Auckland CBD.
Size: 294 guest rooms, across 19 floors.
Price: From $148 a night.
Why we were there: When I heard about the unusual new feature the Holiday Inn Express (a IHG hotel) was introducing in October – I had to give it a try. It’s a hotel world-first designed to transform mornings: The breakfast alarm clock!
“The what?” I hear you say. (That was my reaction). So, the good folks at IHG recognise that when you’re on holiday, it’s not particularly relaxing to be woken up by a blearing alarm clock, shocking you awake from your slumber. So… they’re trialling breakfast alarm clocks across a few different regions – including Auckland.
The idea is that the alarm clock instead uses lights and scents to gently wake you up. They polled Kiwis about our favourite breakfast aromas and based on those results you have three to choose from: coffee, bacon or blueberry muffin.
You set the clock, pour water into the top reservoir and then choose from the three little vials below which scent you drop into the water.
I opted for coffee – it’s my favourite of the three, and personally I thought it smelled a little less synthetic than the other options. I imagined it would feel like when you’re on a plane and you’re trying to ignore the fact the lights are starting to come on because you want to keep snoozing – but then someone starts pouring coffee and bang, you’re awake, no more kidding yourself you can sleep.
It’s not quite as potent – obviously – as that smell of fresh coffee being brewed in the same room, and instead is a lot sweeter smelling (maybe too because although I gave the machine a scrub, the person before me had selected blueberry muffin and it was definitely still mingling in the smell). It was generally a pretty nice way to wake up!
Vibe: If you’re after a super luxurious stay, where you might find it difficult to tear yourself away from your room or the hotel itself, there are plenty of better suited options in the city. If you’re after a simpler, convenient, practical but very comfortable (and surprisingly quiet?!) stay for a much, much more reasonable price tag, Holiday Inn Express is definitely your best choice.
It’s laid back, with a big mix of visitors – I had a delicious glass of pinot noir in the lobby bar, where there were a few business travellers on their laptops, two families with very young children. As I was leaving a large tour group arrived.
It’s in a great location – super handy to everything in the city and is really reasonably priced (apart from the car-parking next door which you can get validated at the hotel – it’s eye-wateringly expensive, but, meh, so is any overnight parking in town?!)
Perfect for: A nice comfortable spot for business travellers, couples or families, particularly if you’re looking to have a nice trip without spending a fortune (gotta love a free breakfast for fuelling the family up!).
Rooms: I stayed in a Super King Standard City View on the 17th floor – all rooms are ‘standard’, there’s just variation in what bed format you’re after (super king, king, queen or doubles) and whether you’re getting a harbour view or a city view. I caught a glimpse of the harbour view and that’s obviously your better option, but over on my side I had a nice enough view, looking out at the Sky Tower. After getting my bearings, I realised that I was also looking down on the old apartment I used to live in on Durham Street, and then it dawned on me that the Holiday Inn Express is built right on the spot of my old work (The old APN buildings that used to be the home of The Herald, including where it was originally printed every day on the old presses.).
The room was bigger than I was expecting, with a very comfy bed, a decent selection of pillows to choose from, a large TV, and couch to sit on (it had a clever divider from the bed, but in all honesty, wasn’t particularly comfy to sit on!), a little table and chairs, bathroom with shower, blackout blinds, plus a little fridge, kettle area.
What I was super impressed by, was the glorious quietness of the room. When I lived on Durham Street on the 15th floor, there was a constant hum of the city – the clanging of glass bottles being tipped into a truck at 1am, a random leaf blower always going at 6am or the sound of sirens. Even a few hotels I’ve stayed in within the CBD lately have had a similar level of noise – or at least some strange thuds, the clack of people wheeling their suitcases past your door or their nearby door banging shut at an ungodly hour. Not at the Holiday Inn Express – it’s the quietest hotel room I’ve been in for years, and it’s right in the thick of town.
Food and Drink: Holiday Inn Express prides itself on providing free hot breakfasts with every room, and it is a lovely touch. There’s the basics of cereals, fruit, yoghurts, pastries, toast, plus hot options including hash browns, bacon and scrambled eggs (all including signs with allergens!). Gluten free toast is available on request (but the hash browns are GF! Hurrah!).
Beyond 6-10am for breakfast, the restaurant is available for light bites or a glass of wine. Beyond that, you’re right in the middle of things in town, so there’s so many great options, from Bar Albert right next door, to Commercial Bay just down the road.
Facilities: There’s a small gym on the 3rd floor, which features weights, and maybe a half-dozen machines, including a tread mill, stair climber and bikes. On that floor, you’ll also find a laundry – otherwise, you can use the dry cleaning service.
There’s a number of meeting rooms available – plus free Wi-fi throughout the hotel.
Accessibility: The hotel has 13 accessible rooms with wheelchair-friendly bathrooms and two wheelchair-accessible car parks. All floors, including reception, are also accessible via elevator.
Alice was a guest of Holiday Inn Express (IHG) . All opinions are her own.
