Auckland Travel Blog: Part 2

New Zealand Travel Blog: Auckland Highlights & Impressions

New Zealand Travel Blog: Part 1

The President Hotel in Downtown Auckland

After getting off the SkyBus, it took me about 5 minutes to reach the President Hotel, which is located in the Central Business District (CBD) in the heart of downtown Auckland.

When I booked this hotel months ago, this used to be a Best Western Hotel. Then all of a sudden, while I was in Melbourne I received an email from Best Western Australasia that the President Hotel had decided to leave the Best Western Group. My options were to either book another Best Western Hotel in Auckland or stay with the President Hotel as they would honour already booked reservations, so I decided to keep my reservations at the President hotel.

The President Hotel is nothing fancy but an OK hotel. The lobby area was unimpressive and so was the room. My room had a window, but I was not able to open the curtains and enjoy the sunlight because another building was blocking any sort of view whatsoever and it was the backside of that building, so it was very dark.

The best feature of this hotel is its location. I had no problem grabbing coffee or food because within a block or two there are many restaurants and street food vendors. There was even a Countdown – NZ Supermarket right next door where I went many times to buy whatever I needed.

I never got to try the hotel’s dining or buffet breakfast in the hotel because it made no sense when so many options to eat were available right next door.

Another feature I enjoyed was that I was able to keep an eye on the street sitting inside the lobby, so I wouldn’t miss my tour pickup. The Sky Tower is visible from the hotel and you can walk to it within a few minutes.