Auckland hotels

[bulldogcruisers]

If everything goes right, we will be cruising out of Auckland the end of March, 2022. We are looking for a hotel for a few nights before the cruise and have noticed that the M Social Hotel is closed until further notice. Does anyone know if they are accepting reservations for next year or if there is another hotel that would be recommended,  Also what is the average cost of a breakfast in Auckland and if the addition of a hotel breakfast plan is worth the price.

[Korimako]

I don't think this is likely to happen. NZ borders are closed to all international travellers at the moment and the latest from Chris Hipkins is they will not be reopening until later in 2022.

Even if they were, there is still the necessity to do 14 days isolation - vaccinated or not. It doesn't look good for your cruise.

Even vaccinated, returning New Zealanders have to comply with this condition.

[lyndarra]

I've found hotel breakfasts, generally, to be very overpriced, I suppose you are paying for convenience. There are plenty of places in Auckland, close to hotels, where great breakfasts can be had.

I would be hesitant on booking anything in Oz or NZ early 2022 unless vaccinations are accelerated, roll out has been abysmal.

[phoenixxx]

Sorry but imho there is no chance of your cruise happening. 

[onlyslightlymad]

13 hours ago, bulldogcruisers said:

If everything goes right, we will be cruising out of Auckland the end of March, 2022. We are looking for a hotel for a few nights before the cruise and have noticed that the M Social Hotel is closed until further notice. Does anyone know if they are accepting reservations for next year or if there is another hotel that would be recommended,  Also what is the average cost of a breakfast in Auckland and if the addition of a hotel breakfast plan is worth the price.

I'm not sure the hotel is closed per se just that it's being used as a government quarantine hotel as are quite a few of the downtown hotels.  In the past we have stayed at the Pullman and they often offer an upgrade to their quite extensive breakfast for only $2 which is crazy cheap.  However, their restaurant is closed at present as they are also a quarantine hotel.  I strongly suggest halting your plans until there is a change to the border control policy allowing cruise ships to enter the country.  It is unlikely that this will occur in the upcoming cruise season.

 

[bulldogcruisers]

Thank you all for the information.  Looks like we will be again postponing our cruise to NZ.

[groundloop]

On 7/6/2021 at 6:40 PM, lyndarra said:

 

I would be hesitant on booking anything in Oz or NZ early 2022 unless vaccinations are accelerated, roll out has been abysmal.

It's interesting how people's perspective is different based on where you're located.  I regularly keep track of how we're doing with Covid and see that both Australia and New Zealand appear to have handled things far better than the US.  If you want to see abysmal take a look at how the first 10 or 11 months of the pandemic were handled in the US  😢.

 

Cases per million people:

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/biweekly-covid-cases-per-million-people?tab=chart&country=AUS~NZL~USA

 

Deaths per million people:

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/biweekly-covid-deaths-per-million-people?tab=chart&country=USA~AUS~NZL

 

In any case I'm anxiously awaiting normalcy so that I can visit your countries and take a cruise while there.  I'll be following these boards to get ideas on where to stay etc.

Edited July 11, 2021 by groundloop

[lissie]

On 7/7/2021 at 8:01 AM, bulldogcruisers said:

If everything goes right, we will be cruising out of Auckland the end of March, 2022. We are looking for a hotel for a few nights before the cruise and have noticed that the M Social Hotel is closed until further notice. Does anyone know if they are accepting reservations for next year or if there is another hotel that would be recommended,  Also what is the average cost of a breakfast in Auckland and if the addition of a hotel breakfast plan is worth the price.

 

Like other's have said you have 2 issues: whether we'll be doing any mass cruising by next summer ( very unlikely), and whether we will be allowing "normal" tourists (more likely in my view assuming you're fully vaccinated). 

 

I have just come back from a few  days in Akl and and stayed at a new eco hotel call  The Hotel Britomart - incredible location - and if you can get a deal a very good price. We paid under NZ$500 for 2 nights including 2 breakfasts, welcome drink and $50 dining credit. Highly recommend - the deal we got was via luxury escapes so might be worth keeping an eye out. 

 

Its also far too early to book - you should be seriously looking for an early deal about Nov 

[OzKiwiJJ]

That Hotel Britomart is in a great location, lissie. Lots of great restaurants near there too.

 

We've stayed in what is now the Nesuto Stadium Hotel & Apartments (used to be Waldorf), and also in one of the Auckland Waterfront Apartments right on Princes Wharf but these aren't a hotel. 

[lissie]

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That Hotel Britomart is in a great location, lissie. Lots of great restaurants near there too.

 

We've stayed in what is now the Nesuto Stadium Hotel & Apartments (used to be Waldorf), and also in one of the Auckland Waterfront Apartments right on Princes Wharf but these aren't a hotel. 

We ate in their restaurant - it was pretty amazing - all about fish though - would be no good if you didn't like fish LOL  It was directly opposite my favourite shoe shop - oilbirds - I was in heaven! 

[CeeCee59]

We are booked in April of 2023 so will be following this post and hoping to get some good ideas.  This is a once in a lifetime cruise for us - 24 days Auckland to Vancouver.  Fingers crossed it is a go.

[NSWP]

 

On 7/12/2021 at 9:15 PM, lissie said:

We ate in their restaurant - it was pretty amazing - all about fish though - would be no good if you didn't like fish LOL  It was directly opposite my favourite shoe shop - oilbirds - I was in heaven! 

No Dad's Pies and Kiwi Sauce Lissie?  

Edited July 14, 2021 by NSWP

[Aussieflyer]

We have stayed at the Sebel in the past - not overly flash but an apartment style right on the Viaduct and easy to walk to anywhere - a little closer to the pier than Sofitel though the new Park Hyatt could be a good option or perhaps the new hotel at Britomart.

Of course, cruise IMO is unlikely to occur so maybe a moot point.

[Esilef]

We just managed to get into Auckland from Melbourne. 
 

travel in Australia & New Zealand at the moment is very risky as boarders shut constantly.

 

in Auckland we stayed at the oaks apartments in the nightclub area a short walk to the viaduct. It was great having a washing machine and cooking facilities but I’d prefer to stay right in the viaduct area.

 

some hotels do have builders fences around them, so works are taking place.

 

I very much doubt that we will see cruiseships in the Australia/New Zealand region for at least another year and a half. When we do they may choose to only to allow residents of the boarding city on the ship ie only people from Sydney on one cruise if they have no cases and the crew would have been quarantined.

 

the Australian government is going to be extremely hard on cruise ships after how badly they stuffed up the ruby princess.

 

New Zealand is also still dealing with the aftermath of the ovation of the seas.

 

talking to people in New Zealand and we were asked about being vaccinated and told them that we were. They have worked extremely hard to stop coronavirus and they seem happy to have tourists but would prefer them to be vaccinated.

 

The Australian government has totally stuffed up the vaccination role out and is continuing to do so. New Zealand has done far better.

[Elorac123]

29 minutes ago, Esilef said:

 

talking to people in New Zealand and we were asked about being vaccinated and told them that we were. They have worked extremely hard to stop coronavirus and they seem happy to have tourists but would prefer them to be vaccinated.

That’s a bit rude ! Would not dream of asking a visitor to my country if they were vaccinated 

Cheers Carole 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Elorac123 said:

That’s a bit rude ! Would not dream of asking a visitor to my country if they were vaccinated 

Cheers Carole 

I suspect it's more of an interest thing rather than just prying. Certainly if I was chatting to people here, interstate, or in NZ, about the virus I'm very sure that vaccinations would become part of the conversation and I would have no hesitation in saying that we were fully vaccinated. Let's face it, most of the regulars here have been very upfront about their vaccinations. So why not in NZ?

 

Now if I was in the US it might be a different story.

 

[onlyslightlymad]

1 hour ago, Esilef said:

We just managed to get into Auckland from Melbourne. 
 

travel in Australia & New Zealand at the moment is very risky as boarders shut constantly.

 

in Auckland we stayed at the oaks apartments in the nightclub area a short walk to the viaduct. It was great having a washing machine and cooking facilities but I’d prefer to stay right in the viaduct area.

 

some hotels do have builders fences around them, so works are taking place.

 

I very much doubt that we will see cruiseships in the Australia/New Zealand region for at least another year and a half. When we do they may choose to only to allow residents of the boarding city on the ship ie only people from Sydney on one cruise if they have no cases and the crew would have been quarantined.

 

the Australian government is going to be extremely hard on cruise ships after how badly they stuffed up the ruby princess.

 

New Zealand is also still dealing with the aftermath of the ovation of the seas.

 

talking to people in New Zealand and we were asked about being vaccinated and told them that we were. They have worked extremely hard to stop coronavirus and they seem happy to have tourists but would prefer them to be vaccinated.

 

The Australian government has totally stuffed up the vaccination role out and is continuing to do so. New Zealand has done far better.

Some of the builders fences are to keep the quarantined people in the hotels.  There are guards too.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Esilef said:

We just managed to get into Auckland from Melbourne. 
 

travel in Australia & New Zealand at the moment is very risky as boarders shut constantly.

 

in Auckland we stayed at the oaks apartments in the nightclub area a short walk to the viaduct. It was great having a washing machine and cooking facilities but I’d prefer to stay right in the viaduct area.

 

some hotels do have builders fences around them, so works are taking place.

 

I very much doubt that we will see cruiseships in the Australia/New Zealand region for at least another year and a half. When we do they may choose to only to allow residents of the boarding city on the ship ie only people from Sydney on one cruise if they have no cases and the crew would have been quarantined.

 

the Australian government is going to be extremely hard on cruise ships after how badly they stuffed up the ruby princess.

 

New Zealand is also still dealing with the aftermath of the ovation of the seas.

 

talking to people in New Zealand and we were asked about being vaccinated and told them that we were. They have worked extremely hard to stop coronavirus and they seem happy to have tourists but would prefer them to be vaccinated.

 

The Australian government has totally stuffed up the vaccination role out and is continuing to do so. New Zealand has done far better.

There aren't that many accommodation places in the Viaduct Basin itself, especially apartments. 

[Esilef]

1 hour ago, Elorac123 said:

That’s a bit rude ! Would not dream of asking a visitor to my country if they were vaccinated 

Cheers Carole 

People seemed very happy to hear that we were. 

[sailing canary]

On 7/17/2021 at 8:27 PM, Elorac123 said:

That’s a bit rude ! Would not dream of asking a visitor to my country if they were vaccinated 

Cheers Carole 

If you lived in a country which had only had 26 deaths since the start of the Covid pandemic, you might want to be reassured that any foreign visitors were fully vaccinated before arriving!!

[sailing canary]

And actually, being vaccinated does not mean you're not a carrier.

[possum52]

4 minutes ago, sailing canary said:

And actually, being vaccinated does not mean you're not a carrier.

Or that you won't become infected.

[Elorac123]

11 minutes ago, sailing canary said:

And actually, being vaccinated does not mean you're not a carrier.

Hence a vaccinated person still needs to quarantine here but when I visit NZ in Feb next year I will be sure to wear my badge to save them asking me, butI still maintain it rude to ask the question

Cheers Carole

[onlyslightlymad]

9 hours ago, Elorac123 said:

Hence a vaccinated person still needs to quarantine here but when I visit NZ in Feb next year I will be sure to wear my badge to save them asking me, butI still maintain it rude to ask the question

Cheers Carole

I think it depends on the context.  It may be that it just came up in the conversation.

[onlyslightlymad]

Here's an interesting perspective on the new normal in NZ.  I think our borders will be very slow to reopen.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/17/no-return-to-normal-expected-in-post-pandemic-new-zealand-and-locals-say-thats-fine-covid-19