I can’t believe it has taken me this long to visit New Zealand!
[Posts following this will be more …..succinent for a while due to some life changing events happening right now]
This is the second of my “first time to a new country” for 2024 and super excited to check off a new country / city. Oddly enough, Bonvoy does not have alot of presence here save for this and a Four Points close by. Some googling showed mixed reviews about this property and how tired it was being a rebrand of an older property, PLUS there is no Executive Lounge available which shaves off quite a bit of elite benefits unfortunately. But I eventually still picked this over the cheaper Four Points as the newly remodeled rooms were open for booking for my dates so why not.
Address – 22-26 Albert Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Website.
Contact – Tel: +64 9 309 8888. Email: reservations.auckland@jwmarriott.com.
Location – “A blend of modern 5-star luxury and timeless grandeur, JW Marriott Hotel Auckland offers business and leisure travelers a prestigious address in the heart of the Auckland, NZ CBD. With our prime location just steps from the Viaduct waterfront and Auckland’s key attractions, including Sky Tower and New Zealand Maritime Museum, our superb hotel provides the perfect place to unwind and connect with friends and family” – as quoted from the website, the location is actually really good with walking distance to the ferry terminal area which holds plenty of shopping, food, and random walks.
Price – NZD379++ per night (~SGD314) booked direct under the Member Elevate & Enjoy promotion which is specifically booked into the newly renovated Superior Room and comes with a bonus 5,000 Bonvoy points per stay. Clocking double elite nights during the stay helped to lessen the pain of the not-so-cheap room rate.
Getting there – I ended up taking an Uber from Auckland Airport which cost AUD64. I guess it’s considered reasonable for a direct and comfortable ride which took slightly less than 40mins.
Check In – I arrived to a rather empty lobby close to 3:00pm in the afternoon and the room was ready yay. I was informed that I’ve been upgraded to an Executive King room which is a non-material upgrade since I had lounge access anyways.
The public spaces at the lobby were super pretty and obviously benefited greatly from the refurbishment in 2024 – awesome!
I was given my cards and welcome letter and off I went.
Room – my Executive Room (36SqM) was I thought awesome and such a new JW vibe with its facelift. The light beige tones and modern furnishing was my type of room and started with a well-spaced corridor with an “as expected” wardrobe with the quintessential including a very likeable pair of bedroom slippers.
Right into the space is the cosy bedroom space which has a king bed, bigg-ish bedside tables, and a chaise lounge by the window PLUS a coffee table (no work desk here).
Nestled in one corner is a block of the mini bar which has the usual stuff plus a refillable glass bottle of water, accompanied by a small (elephant?) plushie which later turned out to be chargeable. WHY.
The bathroom was the only space which showed its age – the old tiles although spruced up but still felt old for some reason. But no complaints here as it was all spacious and clean! Toiletries were aromatherapy brand which is consistent with JW Marriott offerings.
Oddly there were no elite welcome amenity placed in the room, Weird but okay la.
Breakfast – served from 6:30am-10:30am at TRIVET even for Club eligible guests, the space is actually super pretty with its cafe-ish vibe and blue tones. Plenty of comfy seatings before 7:30am before it ramps up to be a busy space around 8:30am.
Food wise, the spread was honestly really good in my opinion – the usual international spread but includes plenty of healthy options and enough greens to hit one’s healthy nosh quota for the day.
There is also a made-to-order egg menu which is ordered tableside which I thought was a nice touch but it also meant that things can get a little slow when it gets busy.
Executive Lounge – this space is a windowless spot located on the lobby level if anyone is particular, but once past the massive doors, I found it to be quite cosy actually. Seats are set up to benefit 2-pax groups and seats are particularly popular during evening hours. Entry is also not manned so access is via eligible keycards.
It was a stroke of luck to visit during Easter holidays as otherwise, breakfast is served in the Lounge which seemed like it could be rather sad. I also did not visit during Afternoon Tea (2:00pm-4:00pm) and instead hopped into the Evening Drinks (4:00pm-8:00pm) and Hors D’ Oeuvres (4:00pm-7:00pm).
Each evening saw a different rotation of hot and cold sides alongside a small variety of salads, sad selection of fruits, and a handful of desserts. Good enough as dinner after a few rounds for me.
Drinks wise, there was a healthy selection of local wines and spirits which did a decent job.
Facilities –
Fitness Centre (24hrs) – this was good size and had more than enough for me for a decent treadmill run. I was also impressed that at 6:15am, there were actually people already there fighting with me for treadmills.
Swimming Pool (7:00am-9:00pm) – this was an indoor heated pool and I was so sad that I forgot to bring my swim wear!
Service – no complaints about my interactions throughout the stay
In Summary,
No brainer for Bonvoy loyalists especially now that the property has a new look!