Prince's Gate Boutique Hotel — Hotel in North Island

This is going to be a long one. I normally don't bother with reviews but I think some feedback is needed.

We booked our stay in the Prince's Gate Hotel for January 4 - 8. We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant). We opted for the 2-bedroom suites. None of which were available for the entire duration of our stay. So we made a split booking. The first half of our stay was in the premium suite. The second half was for the standard suite.

The hotel's location is amazing. Right in the middle of everything. It had the quintessential old world charm and feel.

Check in time was at 2pm. We arrived at reception at 2:11pm. We were told to seat ourselves in the lobby cause our room was still being checked. By 2.45 pm I checked with reception again and they said it was still going to take a few minutes. By then, I had 2 very tired children. One of the staff then offered to give us some refreshments from the bar. Thank you that was kind. Maybe next time, if you knew it was going to take that long, just be honest. We could have done something else while waiting. Communication is key.

We finally got our room key at 3pm. The suite was lovely. Had a nice big bath. Some things in the room felt like it needed an update (creaky floors, windows difficult to open) but we took it as part of the charm.

We had a great experience in the premium suite. We knew we had to swap rooms for the 2nd half of our stay though. The morning this was going to happen, we checked out early from our room. I didn't want a repeat of the check in process from the first day so I told the staff at reception to please ring us once our standard room was ready. She reassured us she would give me a ring. We were out and about so it wasn't super critical but come 4pm, we hadn't heard back from the hotel. If you tell me you are going to ring, please do. Don't leave your guest hanging.

Got to the hotel and was relieved that our room was good to go. We then went into our room and it wasn't too bad. Except that the carpet in the one room was wet. When I told your staff, he knew about it but failed to warn us beforehand. The mini fridge had a leak and they had forgotten the cot for my 1 year old. Maybe it is my fault for not asking but surely the clue was we had a cot in the other room? They told me they would bring the cot around in 15 minutes. We waited for an hour and still nothing. I ended up going to reception and telling them to just set it up while were out. A little attention to detail maybe? And again communication was lacking.

Suffice to say, we will not be staying here again. It's such a shame cause otherwise, most of the staff were great and helpful. Especially during the...

The Estate room that we stayed in was a good price at $630 for 4 nights. The outside of this historical building and the communal areas such as foyers, lounge, dinning room and bar were presented beautifully. However been on the ground floor and having rooms above with wooden floors and no installation was extremely noisy and prevented a goods night sleep. Not only that the neon lighting on the deck and limited blockage with light on curtains made the room light at night. Every single person that rolled their luggage or wearing high heels could be heard whether at 3pm during the day or 3pm at night. The wifi connection was extremely poor.. No net flix, or connection to internet in any way which you needed to get instructions on the rules or how to use facilities. No information on how to get the internet to work to QR code. I enquired with this challenge by ringing reception three time with no response. When I physically went to reception another customer was complaining about their room and I waited 20mins with no eye contact or communication letting me know they could get back to me. We ended hot-spotting data from my partners phone which took an hour to figure out how to connect.. We paid for a more expensive room thinking it would be better quality, however the curtains were falling down. The wall paper looked dirty. The light in the middle of the bed head didn't work. The bathroom door had paint falling off. The decor was outdated tired and not designed well. Colour schemes didn't match, or time periods. (eg modern bed covers, flower 30's carpet, 80's curtain fabric) .. .. The spa at the rear of the hotel and outdoor setting was lovely. However we went to have a spa and didn't realise you had to either walk through a private event or bar and restaurant to access it. ( I got changed in the provided dressing room, how ever walked back to my room with wet hair and slippers through the restaurant and bar - which didn't feel appropriate when people were out dining in their Sunday bests). From the outside the hotel looks beautiful. I loved the reference to history, the character of the building and the location.. ( However parking was also a problem) . The green service from the cleaning staff was excellent. Reception customer service...

I stayed two nights.

Positives: very central, right by entrance to Government Gardens. It's 5-15 minutes' walking distance to restaurants and shops. The building is historic with large common areas and a wide staircase. My room was in the main part of the complex, accessible via a veranda.

The price was reasonable with breakfast included. The bed was fine. Staff was okay. Cleanliness okay.

The breakfast buffet was fine, nothing amazing but enough variety in cooked and cold offerings, and bottomless coffee and tea.

Negatives: The place is dated, not just historic. The hotel has doors to the outside open even in winter so the main areas aren't that warm, even near the fire.

My bathroom had cracked tiles and a miniscule shower. There were stains underneath the glass on the side table. The wardrobe and drawers as well as the chairs and side table felt 1990s vintage. The shades on the bedside lights were wonky and the heatpump didn't work that well. The walls are not soundproof.

Although the hotel info says room service is available 7am-9pm, when I wanted actual food at 4pm I was told I could only order bar snacks like chips, and that dinner started at 6pm. I ordered Uber Eats instead.

The next day I wanted food at 3pm, and bar staff told me that the bar was closed, there was a pre-booked group, and I could not order any food at all. However, an hour later I saw a room service cloche on one of the veranda tables. Whether they had ordered after the group had left or not I don't know but I find it hard to believe that the kitchen can't do any food for house guests if there is a group booked in the venue room.

A hotel may be 4 star rated because of the type of amenities, but it doesn't say much about the quality of the service or the level of maintenance. I would rate this hotel overall as 3-3.5 star. I might stay again if the price is not hiked, knowing what I know now and not being under a misapprehension...