Auckland Hilton or Westin?

[Catathome]

Would love any feedback regarding these two hotels and/or your suggestion.

[Off Shore]

We are booked into the Westin in Auckland fora mini-suite for Jan 20th thru 22nd. We selected the Westin because of its location in a "touristy" area.

Check the Auckland Westin's website; they have some nice bargains.

Danny Weitz

[Rickey 88]

We stayed here in January prior to our Oceania cruise. The hotel is built on Princes Wharf out over the water and is very convenient to downtown, the Ferry Building and harbor cruises.

 

The biggest attraction is that the rooms facing the ferry harbor have balconies and on the morning of your cruise departure, you will awake to see your ship sliding by your balcony!

[eh2zed]

The Hilton sure is convenient; right on the pier. Great for embarkation day. The terminal area is part of the hotel complex.

[rkdahl]

We just got off the Diamond Princess and are at the Auckland Hilton now. It is indeed right next to where the ship docks. As a matter of fact our Hilton room looks directly onto the balcony of our minisuite on Dolphin deck! We should have just jumped over! :)

 

I've only been here 2 hours so I can't comment much on the hotel yet. We will be here a week and would be happy to answer any questions you have about the Auckland Hilton.

[Catathome]

Thank you all for your quick response. We booked this cruise last night and are leaving in 3 weeks.

 

I would love to know any tours you took while in Auckland, or what you loved best about Auckland. Actually any of the tours you loved or hated in New Zealand and Australia.

 

Thanks again, it really helps when you haven't had time to research.

 

Cat

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Both Hotels are great.

You could also look at the Copthorne Harbour City.

It is an older hotel but very good tourist accommodation.

Diamond Princess is in town today and here is a view of the hotel from the bridge cam.

Its the brick bulding in the middle and is just at the end of the wharf where you dock.

Location is great but it is certainly not as upmarket as the other two.

 

 

http://www.millenniumhotels.co.nz/copthorneharbourcity/index.html

[eh2zed]

We stayed at the Copthorne. Kiwi Cruiser is quite correct its not nearly as upscale as the Westin or Hilton but then was one third the cost. We just walked our bags across the street to the pier for embarkation.

[ConnMom]

We stayed at the Westin in October and loved it. The hotel is new and beautiful, and the staff is great. The upgraded us so we could get into our room when we arrived at 7:30 a.m. and were very accommodating during our entire stay there. It is only a 5 minute cab ride to the cruise ship pier.

Cat, if you will be there before your cruise, consider a day trip to the Bay of Islands. That was one of the highlights of our trip.

I did a lot of research on the ports and was pleased with most of our sightseeing decisions. If you are interested, I can provide more feedback after the Christmas holiday.

I hope you have a great trip.

Cheryl

[Verity]

We just came back from our cruise. We stayed at the Auckland Hilton which I booked on Orbitz for a great rate. It is so amazingly convenient. We just rolled the cart with our suitcases on it from the terminal right to the hotel and they took the cart back. Our room at the Hilton was directly across from our room we had just left on the Millenium. We walked everywhere in Auckland. They have those Hop On Hop Off buses if you want to go on a bus tour. We also took a Ferry to Devenport and the ticket covered a bus tour of the volcanoes. We did all this on our own and everything is walkable from the Hilton. I must say after getting off the ship, the gigantic, modern bathroom in the Hilton was wonderful. It had a HUGE bath tub. They also brought homemade candy to our room and bottled water for a mid afternoon snack-no charge.

[Tibbs]

We are on the Diamond Princess from Sydney to Auckland & I have booked in at the Hilton APARTMENTS, which is right next door to the Hotel.

 

They are not serviced, but look great & you get to use all the facilities of the Hotel at a fraction of the price! All apartments have balconies too.

 

We chose the Harbour view apartment for NZ$175 p/night, and there are some cheaper options too.

 

Here is the Wotif link:

http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W11700&page=1&viewType=all

 

Here is the Apartments link, with a great photo tour:

http://www.aucklandwaterfront.co.nz/

 

 

All the best

[Ruste]

Don't be put off by the name.

 

We stay in the Hilton Apartments quite often. The 2 bedroom harbour view has a queen bed with full bathroom and walk in wardrobe. 2 Single beds in another room. Another bathroom, Kitchen, dining area, lounge, washing machine and dryer. The bedrooms & lounge all open up onto the deck.

 

We have found the rates to be comparable to the Copthorne over the road especially given the facilities. We enjoy being in an apartment rather than a hotel room and location wise it is excellent.

 

Make Sure when booking off Wotif that you are looking at the Hilton Apartments and not the Hotel. The apartments are further down the list.

 

Earlier this year we waved good bye to the Sapphire Princess and woke up to the Queen Victoria. Last week we saw the Pacific Sun off. If you are not on the ship standing on your deck with a glass of wine in hand watching it go out helps. You are that close you feel like Ten can touch the ship and you hear all the announcements so you feel part of sailaway.

[Catathome]

Thank you all for such wonderful information, I would love any excurtions from Auckland to Sydney that you enjoyed.

 

I will definitely book a day trip to Bay of Islands, thanks for that information and I hope to hear from you soon with other recommendations.

 

I am going to use my Am. Exp. points and book the Hilton since you all said it was convenient for embarking.

 

Cathy

[ConnMom]

Here's some of the tour information I promised.

Our favorite excursion was with Awesome Tours from Dunedin. We had a brief city tour, followed by a drive (in a 10 pssenger van) out to Nature's Wonders, where we had a tour in an off-road Argo vehicle and where we saw the most incredible views, as well as seals and a sea leopard. The Argo ride was fairly rough but definitely an adventure if you don't mind being bounced around a bit. We ended the day with a tour of Lanarch Castle. It was a great day and our guide was wonderful.

We also did a private tour of Rotorua from Tauranga with Carlton Tours. There are many things to do in Rotorua; we went to Te Puia, where we saw the geysers, boiling mud baths, a Mauri welcome ceremony and dance performance. On the way to a from Te Puia, we also visited a number of interesting sites, and had a very full day. Carlton is a small husband/wife operation. The Churches are very nice and interested in showing their clients the beauty and attractions of the Bay of Plenty. The only downside was that the tour guide depended on her notes too much while providing information. I preferred it when we were just talking casually. It was a good tour, however, and good value.

Both of these companies allowed us to reserve just 2 seats in their small group tour. Other companies I contacted required us to reserve the entire van and then try to fill it ourselves, which I had no interest in doing.

We set up our own days in Napier (where we signed up for an art deco walking tour at the Visitor's Center), Wellington, Christchurch, and Melbourne. In Melbourne, we arranged in advance for a free private half-day walking tour, sponsored by Melbourne Greeters. This was a wonderful service and we had a great morning with our guide.

In Picton, we went on a wine tasting tour with another small group. This was a lot of fun and provided a range of small and large wineries, in addition to showing us some of the countryside.

I'd be happy to provide additional information. We had an amazing trip, that also included several days in Sydney and another cruise to the Great Barrier Reef. I hope you have a great time.

[Catathome]

ConnMom:

 

Thank you for all your fabulous information. The tours you chose are perfect and I hope to copy them.

 

Thank you for taking the time to inform others of your experience.

 

Cat

[QWhisper]

For those who have stayed at Hilton Apartments is there an elevator?

 

We will be traveling with people who may not be able to get luggage up stairs.

 

Thank you for your help!

Janet

[margord]

We stayed at the Auckland Hilton. They were very nice and checked us in upon arrival which was about 8 a.m. The room was beautiful and comfortable. The location was fabulous. When we boarded the ship she just took the elevator down and out the door about 50 feet to get on the ship. The location was also fabulous for touring. Right on a pier over the harbour and near all kinds of restaurants. We loved it and would stay there again in a minute.

[QWhisper]

Is there an elevator/lift at the Hilton apartments.?

[MLAW]

My family four stayed at the Hilton Apartments in Dec. There is an elevator it is a little small and we had a lot of luggage so we went two at a time in the elevator. The Hilton apartment was one of the nicest places we have stayed and was a great start to our adventure. You can not go wrong with this choice! Have a great trip.

[QWhisper]

Thank You!

[aussiedisneyfan]

The Hilton staff will also carry your bags for you. We also got a great rate last December through rates to go. Much cheaper than the prices listed on the link at the beginning of the thread and no 3 night minimum.