Crowne Plaza Christchurch by IHG — Attraction in Christchurch

We checked in to the Crowne Plaza at short notice (walked in) and selected this hotel due to our previous positive experience at the Crowne Plaza in Adelaide. The hotel is well appointed, fresh, modern and comfortable.

It had only been opened for two weeks but there were no signs of 'teething' problems or lack of staff.

The room was large and very comfortable and made us wish we could have stayed longer than one night.

We ordered a few cocktails at the bar - the staff were very skilled, warm and professional and the cocktails were excellent.

2 small things to note, one of which was quickly resolved:

We walked in off the street to check in (approx. 2pm). The person who greeted us and checked us in was very friendly and accommodating. When looking for a room we asked for just the standard rom as we were only staying one night. he asked us if we wanted 2 single beds (we are a same sex couple). I said no, would prefer double or king. He very quickly apologized and booked us into a beautiful king room. This is just a small training issue re framing questions for same sex couples (would you prefer a king/double or twin? or just assume that everyone wants a king unless specified - this would alleviate any discomfort for same sex couples having to explain their situation)

I do want to stress that this was a very small issue with an incredible staff team and did not impact on our stay or experience.

2nd note - I was incredibly disappointed at the design of the wheelchair accessible bathroom on the ground floor. Whilst I don't use a wheelchair myself, I am a strong advocate for accessible spaces. The ground floor bathroom was adequate, with one left hand grab rail and enough space for a person to fully turn around in their chair. The bathroom made be to code but it lacked consideration such as having additional grab rails, appropriate handles on the doors and the mirror was set high in the wall so that a person who is using a wheelchair will not be able to see in the mirror. There was also no braille signage anywhere in the building, including the front entrance.

This is disappointing as the building has been completely refurbished with an entirely new layout. These issues would have been avoided by consulting with a person with disability, and most likely would have had minimal cost. It is also surprising as the Crowne Plaza in Adelaide had special touches such as toiletries with Braille on them.

I acknowledge that the building is designed to code but 'code' does not always mean genuinely accessible for people with disability and I think that the builders/designers missed an important opportunity for inclusive design.

It would not dissuade me from staying there again, I am a fan on the Crowne Plaza group and the hotel is beautiful. The staff were...

I stayed 3 nights in this hotel and did my best to support the environment by not having my room cleaned during my stay. I was offered membership points to do so by placing the room card on the door each night. Sure enough my room was never cleaned, nor towels taken or replaced.

However 3 days after checking out I receive an invoice asking me to pay for drinks from another room, plus my room. I never used anything from the Minibar, I don't drink beer! In fact during my stay I turned off the fridge as it was growning very loudly being shut inside a cupboard and making the room hot.

Not only that, I was told I never booked a "Green". room, but as a gesture of goodwill they would give me the points for 2 nights. Well, If there is a Special method of booking a room "Green room" or whatever, then it should be on the website, It is not. I have stayed at other IHG hotels who also offer the points for non-serving of the room, and it was honoured without query. But not the Crown Plaza in Christchurch.

I will not pay for someone else's drinks from any minibar - my room or another room 6 floors down. It is the Hotels responsibility to check the mini bar after people vacate, not expect to charge the next customer. More than one mistake has occurred here. I did not stay in the other room, so I should not be asked to pay for their drink. The mini bar should have been checked, and restocked if items were missing, prior to my arrival which was very late - they had ample time to do this.

Further I have to complain about the breakfast. I did not book a room with breakfast as the hotel was wanting an Additional $54 for breakfast at time of booking. However at the hotel, it was charged at NZ$40. So the first morning I was feeling hungry so I paid my NZ$40 (extremely expensive I thought) but worst of all, when I go to the buffet bar, there was no eggs, not even scrambled eggs, no tomatoes; the remaining items were all deep fried. The bacon was dripping and crisp, the hash browns were sticks not the usual MacDonalds type, and the mushrooms deep fried, but dried out. It was disgusting. If the quality was good, you would put it down to a travelling cost. I eventually found that you had to write the type of eggs down on a card and hand it to the egg chef behind the bar. He had a long queue of orders - of course he did because the food bar was empty. Eventually I got my poached eggs, but the grease from the additional sides was not pleasant.

This is not Crown Plaza standard, well not the standard I have had in...

Returning to Christchurch to find only one IHG hotel is wonderful. Staff was very kind at front desk. Very happy with the room and all amenities. Very quiet too. Location is good though not many places to have a proper dinner, as mostly bars and desserts. We were hoping to have dinner at the hotel, but when walking into the restaurant, no one there. We walked out to nearby places, some closed and only bars for happy hour or dessert. We returned to the hotel's restaurant on 1st floor again, staff wasn't keen to help even we said we are hotel guests. The online hotel website as well as the sandwich board displayed outside hotel saying dinner opened till late !! She just told just to go down to the bar and order the food, we don't mind but the attitude making us feel like begging for food !!! The way treating hotel guests especially loyal IHG elite member is so poor. At the end, we went across the road reluctantly to have Indian food who welcomed us far better. The breakfast staff of Crowne Plaza meeting hotel guest just more interested to know our room number and then left us to find table and find our ways around like walking in a food court. We have been to many Crowne Plaza hotels around the world, this is not a 2 or 3 star hotel, breakfast staff needs more training to explain how things work, usually at other hotels would ask if we would like cofffee or tea, and such as how to order the chef for different things. I had to watch other people do at the chef counter, not sure what the list of food for and so rip one sheet of the pad and read it. Still not sure what to do until I had to grab a staff to explain what to do and how to do etc. We don't mind to do that, but this is Crowne Plaza, the standard of service in breakfast room should be in line with the standard and class of the hotel. Also when my ordered soft boil egg came to the table, just an egg on a plate without an egg cup and NO teaspoon to scoop out the soft boiled egg. Having soft boil egg even at home, should be on an egg cup with a plate and teaspoon. Plate for putting egg shells and teaspoon small enough to scoop soft egg yolk out. Train breakfast staff at the standard to what Crowne Plaza standard should be. I do not use Social media, but hope next return will see more...