AIRPORT WESTNEY LODGE MOTEL — Hotel in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu

Terrible Experience – Avoid This Place!

When we arrived to check in, the lobby was unlocked, but there was no staff in sight. We pressed the Ring doorbell for assistance, and a man responded, saying he was at the airport picking someone up and would be back in 10 minutes. Well, 10 minutes passed… then 20… and still, no one showed up.

We had a tight schedule and needed to get into our room quickly, so the delay was incredibly frustrating. The lobby itself was filthy and uninviting—there was even a disheveled Christmas tree still up, long past the season. After waiting over 20 minutes, I pressed the doorbell again, but this time, no one answered. We received no updates, no courtesy call—just complete radio silence.

Pressed for time, we had no choice but to leave and find another place to stay. Hours later, we were shocked to see that we had been charged for a room we never stayed in—because we were literally unable to access it! When we contacted the management, they outright refused to refund us. Instead, they offered a laughable discount on a future stay. Absolutely not!

We weren’t the only ones having issues—other customers came and left as well. This place is an absolute mess. I hope this review saves others from wasting their time and money....

Due to a family bereavement, we had to make urgent travel arrangements to attend the funeral in China. As expected, airfares are exorbitant, connections are bad, and we had to stay overnight in Auckland for transit. A couple of days before the trip, China changed its border policy and our flights were changed. We tried to get a refund for the booking but it was already past their free cancellation date. We accepted that but what shocked me more was that they charged us a fee for paying with credit card - actually they just deducted straight from our credit card without informing us that they are imposing a credit card transaction fee; I saw the additional amount and asked for clarification, which was when they told us about the transaction fee. This is the first time in my life (being a frequent flyer) that a hotel/motel charges a transaction fee for using a credit card, and it was not indicated anywhere on the booking regarding such a policy. This establishment should not be in the hospitality business and definitely does not represent, in any way, the Kiwi hospitality spirit. I wouldn't give them even 1-star but it is required to...

Absolutely appalling experience – avoid at all costs

We booked Westney Hotel through Booking.com as a “pay at property” accommodation, only to have our booking cancelled a hour before check-in because the payment “didn’t come out” that morning. This completely goes against Booking.com’s policy.

What makes it worse is that I had already been in contact with the hotel before arrival to arrange the airport shuttle — they knew we were definitely coming. Yet, without any attempt to call or resolve the issue, they simply cancelled.

When I phoned to ask how they could do this, I was met with a cold, scripted, and completely unempathetic response. No apology and no solutions.

We had just landed in Auckland and were suddenly scrambling to find last-minute accommodation, stressed and exhausted, and ended up paying significantly more because of their negligence.

Unprofessional, uncaring, and in breach of the booking agreement. This hotel clearly doesn’t value its guests or their commitments. I will never book here again — and strongly recommend you don’t stay here.

I will be making a formal complaint through...