Hanmer Springs Retreat Review

Have stayed here a couple of times and both times have been good. The views were really nice and the rooms were neat and tidy. Wifi wasn't great. The service was pleasant. I would stay here again.

It is rather apart hotel, has everything you need to be independent if you prefer to cook and do things in the room instead of eating out, near the center and located in a place without much automobile congestion.

The hotel staff do not make it easy for you. I called 3 different times to try to get a second bed or upgrade for my room. They told me to call back the next day. Then I called and they said they were going to work on it and it would cost $30 and to call back. Called back once more and they arranged it for $45 upgrade fee and I had to argue with them that they were being dishonest and making a hassle, they begrudgingly agreed on $30 as if they were doing me a favor, what? You literally made me call 3 to times and now you act like you're doing me a favor?

To make matters worse I wanted to add someone to check in before me. I was told to email them the details rather than call. So I sent the email and got no response or confirmation. Then I called 8 hours later and they told me to email, so I told them I did and they finally agreed to add them to the guest list for a key, where I had to read off the name and spelling instead of them just getting it from the email they told me to send.

To add more insult to injury, they couldn't find my reservation under my own name or my guest's name and insisted I call my guest to ask for the room number. What, don't you know that? After luckily running into my friend and getting the room number, I asked for a key for my reservation, they said they would be forced to deactivate my guest's key in order to produce mine. What? I'm going to bed and he's going to come late. When I told them most hotels don't do this and it was inconvenient she instead argued with me that they are a 24/7 reception and it isn't an issue for guests. What?

This hotel reception (it was more than one person) needs to get its act together. The room was all right, but pray you don't have any upgrade requests or legitimate normal requests because they will make it very difficult for you, change the price on you, and when you complain about how difficult they make it for you it falls on deaf ears and they tell you they're 24/7 a time reception and not to worry.

Worst stay ever. The room looked clean but the room had bed bugs. Me and my partner both had flee bites the next day and have to visit doctors. To top it all off , I forgot my hair dryer and the next day when I went to collect it. I was told the housekeeping never found it and they can t do anything about it.

The room(s) were not cleaned well. The restaurant buffet breakfast was ordinary. The free wi-fi was a joke. The staff were happy and helpful, however, I would not stay there again.

Elevators way to slow waited over 5 minutes for it
Room is nice

It is not good nor bad .. it should improve snack services .... attentive to the lack of food at breakfast (hot milk .. fruit..pan..etc) ... delay in replacement

An amazing stay on both occasions. AMAZING STAFF and facilities not to mention the amazing fish and chips downstairs at the bar 5 star!!

Do not stay here..... the management isn t able to control noise from other rooms. They don t respect gentle and quiet guests but too shy to go up to noisy guests.....very unprofessional. Don t choose this hotel, please don t...........it will ruin your trip plan entirely because you won t be able to sleep at all. Period.

Really liked this place. Clean, modern our apartment had all the homely amenities. It was great. Parking verses valet was confusing, otherwise

On the surface, this hotel looks good but the service + charges for everything (nothing is complimentary) sour the experience...

Our shower door did not close so the floor would be wet after each use.

The first night we stayed, there was no mini soaps for the shower and the number of towels is the bare minimum for two people. When we asked for more towels, the request was not welcomed kindly.

There was a washer/dryer for clothes but the controls on it were basically uncontrollable and resulted in us not being able to get our clothes out when we needed to leave. Staff was called to help and even they could NOT figure out the machine. It was a two hour ordeal to get the clothes dried and the front desk s response was a 25% discount on parking... Thanks :(

The price you pay does not reflect what you would get for a similar room in the U.S. or other countries on the level of NZ s reputation.

Location is central to the harbor so if that s important to you, then take your chances I guess.

Not what we expected. Small and old rooms, gym is not really a gym, breakfast is bad

Very Noisy building & no control over discipline. this very hotel on 10 Waterloo quadrant, next to Pullmen, it has lot of noise issues.
Hotel itself is occupied by lot of university students staying for long term and student rooms could be next or above Guest room, who do not care about guest living next to them are paying per day. Management doesn't care too.
there is lot of ongoing issues we faced in our 3 days stay. lot of machine vibrations noise, paid car park, dirty linen, noise noise and noise that's it! and management is no good. Looks like are are just hired unprofessional.
If you call reception to check whats wrong no one turns up for like an hour. Highly disappointed!

Looks like you are buying pain for yourself for couple of days.

Good location, staff very helpful. Bathroom a bit small. Could do with some modifications to bar and meal area. Otherwise nice place to stay. I think three star fits.

Great location and cozy little apartment. Just what we needed for our stay in the cbd.

The room was good, customer service was friendly. Didn't like the food!

Be careful you get what you pay for, paid for Queen suite, If you call a one room where you have to go out side to change your mind a suite . I must have it all wrong.

This place is terrible. Doesn t have anything fo cooking! My family stayed here, no oven trays,fry pans pots! Boosts about having a full kitchen?! For what exactly? Were given an oven tray with holes in it, smoke everywhere. Rang and got given one small fry pan, could cook anything in this kitchen. Extremely disappointed, don t stay here. Highly do not recommend

The place is at the top of magnificence and cleanliness and most of all it is close to the city center and from the University of Auckland

It's a good place, friendly people and they have everything.

Room with really outdated furniture (dents all over), very small bathroom with a power saving light bulb that provided little light, the bathroom seldom smelled liked sewage, during breakfast all the hot items (eggs, bacon, sausage, etc) were cold. 23 floors and only 2 working elevators made for long rides going up and down. Not great experience overall. Would have happily spent 10 more dollars for a room at the Pullman hotel next door.

Excellent service and Chopra and ladies at the front desk totally went out of their way to help us with everything thing - above and beyond the call of duty

Cheap and convenient accommodation in central Auckland

Amazing value, loved it, great restaurant, friendly staff, nice comfy and clean, close to the city only 5-10 mins nice walk.

Great service, clean rooms good location. Would go back.

Good facilities, clean rooms and close to freeway and harbour

Lovely place! Not what I expected. The staff were very friendly and helpful, dinner and breakfast were yummy. The spa was nice however could have been another 5 degrees hotter, it wasn t too warm. Would definitely stay here again. Thanks guys!!

Welcome, we were able to leave our luggage and take a shower before checkin. The apartment was really nickel, all comfort. I recommend.

Absolutely loved staying here. The restaurant bar and reception and the spa pool were so amazing.

Spa is cold sauna doesn't work gym equipment needs updating 4.5 star understamen

Nice hotel, and nice rooms, but it's dirty in corridors outside room, no clean in long time.

Poor customer service, horrible beds and sofa sleepers (ran out of rooms). Had our reservations wrong, awful rooms, and the sofa sleeper was so saggy I ended up sleeping on the floor! Not impressed at all, and I am not one to complain...will not be back. Not a good way to start out a 3-week vacation of a lifetime.

Very small room, but has washer and dryer, cooking supplies, and the best smelling body wash everrrr

Stayed here for 3 nights in June . ..was not going to be let in our room after checking in at 11pm as we had left ID at home . Even though we had voucher and credit card it took over an hour to let us have a room . Have stayed in many hotels in NZ and never been asked this . Eventually allowed a room and a very average room . 2nd stay and won't be staying again

Room service was too expensive for the lack of quality and presentation of dishes.. i had a ceasar salad and was not happy husband ordered a club sandwich and was just bland. Kitchen had some scratches on top bench, we had no tv remote, carpet needed vaccuming.

I stayed here for 2 hights before flying back to oz aka australia as i was doing the hobbiton and wattimo glow worm caves tour for the 2nd time ... The hotel is not right in the cbd/city limits but its not to far hotel itself was nice,i didnt try the restaurant as the reviews wernt that good so i cant say for sure as i ate out at the one of the resturants atbthe casino,bit bummed i disnt have time for the heated spa,all in all it was a great stay

Rooms were very nice and food was delicious. Staff were all very helpful and polite

Although not luxurious, it is comfortable and clean, and the location is very close to the city! !

Good hotel room but very boring breakfast with only rust bread and some fruit and yogurt + coffee. In addition, in a tiny space where you almost sat on each other. Also annoying is that you had to carry both a large key and an access card (to the lift). However, the room was nicely equipped with both a dishwasher and a washing machine. Internet worked fine (worked with both computer and phone!)

Staying in a privately owned suite which is quite nice. Limited harbour view, but a view nonetheless. Not for short stays. Would definitely stay here again.

Place was all we needed it to be. Close to the city. Not to expensive. Only there for a night had drinks at the bar but no food at the restaurant looked fine walking passed but was empty. I never eat at an empty restaurant. Room was clean. bad shower for anyone over 6ft tall strange hotel layout really expensive parking.

Very small room and not a good experience at all. Not a comfortable place.

Top hotel excellent service 5min walk to city centre.

Avoid room 922 very thin (it's behind the elevators) and an odd layout. Also the Wifi signal was too weak to connect devices too (Phone and tablet)

The roof doesn't leak that is why it gets one star, that is all it has going for it. Go elsewhere....

Good place to stay.However the gym is too small and the hot spa never works.

Simple but clean and comfortable, very well equipped, a good place to stay if you don't need to stay for a long time, otherwise it's a little small.

Loved it here and so quiet! I will definitely be back

The room was average and dated. The elevator broke down with my 9 year old in it. When we complained they were rude. Beds were very uncomfortable. The milk was off, when I drunk it it made me vomit. Will not stay again!

Lovely stay, wonderful location, close walking distance to shopping and food. I'd definitely stay again.

Staff were rude, unhelpful, completely oblivious to the concept of customer service. They need better training, or a job where they don't hate people so much. If you can't handle people or speak to customers, don't get into a job that's all about customer service. Don't even care about how good the stay was, the staff completely ruined the experience to begin with.

Wonderful view from the higher floors (24 in total, if I recall). Some swell nightscapes were taken there- no need to pay for a ticket to go up the Sky Tower.

Service was shockingly awful, no hot water due to a burst pipe, over priced car parking & small rooms.

I was met at check-in by a clearly irritable receptionist who was rude. The extortion they call parking fees was not pre-stated and when i complained, the receptionist got even ruder. The reception manager saved they day and was awesome in so many ways. The room aircon was broken, and had to be moved to a new room. the rooms are noisy and the hotel also has apartment residents living there so you often see bags of trash next to the elevator. The corridor carpet desperately needs cleaning. The little bar was nice and the bar staff really friendly and helpful. As for the breakfast, go to the Pullman next door or one of the cafes around the corner. The little room and treadmill and machine they call a gym is a bit of a joke. Check-out was just as bad. And when I asked for an invoice I got told to ask Wotif for the invoice. Hmmmm, thats never happened. I recommend not staying here

Walking distance to CBD and Spark Arena, friendly staff, rooms are a bit tired and could do with refurbishing and the valet parking is a little bit expensive especially if you're staying more than 1 night.

The worst place I've ever been too for a hotel the money I paid to stay two nights then had to pay for parking each night separately when a car park should come with your booking it should not be a separate cost then had to pay separately for a cot even though I paid for 4 adults 1 kid and 1 infant so cot should have been in room for free not $30 for each night also when I've paid for 6 people, the shower door was broken in our room,the windows were dirty not cleaned properly or if at all,you only have 7 channels on the TV,The microwave took forever to heat up, The washing machine/dryer took most of the night to dry my 3month Olds clothing,there's no extra sheets,blankets,or towels food was average for the price this is worse then a motel the spa downstairs was broken had no sign up to state out of order it wasn't heating up at all my room was the executive 2bedroom suite on level 20 which to me I would probably call a 1 and a half bedroom it was small the only thing I liked about the room was the bed and the outside view on the balcony as to why i have given a star other then that I would not recommend to anyone with my experience and the amount I had paid to have a great couple of days with my family but the whole stay overshadowed that.I did in fact notified the front desk and manager of these but they were very blunt and I felt uncomfortable I thought the Asian reception lady was very rude and not helpful.very disappointed for a hotel that supposedly prides itself on 4 1/5 stars unprofessional and never met it's standards first and last time there lesson learnt there was other things but I'll leave it at that just shocking and ridiculous...!!!!!!!!

First night, so far so good, only if parking was cheaper for hotel customers, e.g. 20$ or even $25 instead of $35. But comfy beds, nice restaurant, good value.

Staff were rude. We dropped bags off and had Staff immediately ask to move cars unless we were paying the $35 dollar parking fee. We asked for 5 minutes to take bags upstairs and had to hand over keys to car and id (we were told that if we were anything over 5 minutes we'd be charged $35) after coming back down we had to sign a no party policy. When entering the room we realised it was literally a box 2bedroom apartment very average. No phone to call downstairs as it had no battery and ironing board was broken. Also had to ask for room to be serviced.

You will experience the Worst customer service. The reception is rude (all of them) as they roll their eyes in front of you instead of offering to help. People who work in the hospitality field has no intention of offering service for people who pay money to stay there. Had to get the manager and had no idea what to do. Thanks for the worst time of my life. Makes customers upset and angry instead of offering service. Do not go here and pay money wages for those rude reception people.

Good place to go out to go, but it is not the best.