Rydges Wellington — Hotel in North Island

Disappointed and Frustrated (Lost Items) After a Previously Positive Experience

I used to be a loyal guest at Rydges Wellington between 2017 and 2019 and recommended it highly to others. Based on that, six of us recently stayed there over two consecutive weeks for our course. Unfortunately, this stay was well below expectations.

Two of my personal items went missing during this visit. The first, a low-value item, disappeared early in my second week. I didn't make a big fuss as I still had several nights left and didn't want to be seen as "difficult." Instead, I called and asked that housekeeping be more careful. On that same day, my nightie was left thrown across the carpet (which looked far from clean), and items from my luggage were strewn across the floor. I took photos of this — happy to share with anyone who wants proof.

The second item was far more serious — a brand-new company-branded Stoney Creek Thermotough jacket valued at $429.99. I left it in the wardrobe at checkout and called the same day to retrieve it. I was told nothing had been handed in. I sent timestamped photos showing the last time it was seen in the hotel, which is the late night before, but still no resolution. I was left to fly home to Invercargill in 2-degree weather with no warm jacket — extremely frustrating and disappointing.

To make matters worse, when I called to check on the jacket, the receptionist confused me with another guest who had also lost a jacket the previous week. So it seems this isn’t an isolated case — is there a trend here?

I have since filed a police report. If anyone else has experienced similar issues with missing belongings at Rydges Wellington, feel free to reach out — we may need to escalate this collectively, as the hotel has not shown any due diligence or care regarding lost property.

It's disheartening to see how drastically the service and accountability at this hotel have declined.

Another issue: the smoke alarm in the room had a bright green LED light, which made sleeping difficult — especially as it shone right through my eyelids at night. This could easily be replaced with the standard red-blinking type, which is far less disruptive. Interestingly, there were signs that a previous guest had tried to cover the light with tape, which had been ripped off — presumably due to legal reasons. Clearly, this is not just my issue, and it’s affecting other guests' sleep as well.

It’s disheartening to see how much the service and standards at this hotel have dropped. I won’t be recommending...

We have been lucky enough to stay at The Rydges, Wellington. While we have also been lucky enough to get a discounted room - the service was / is exemplary. The staff are all amazing - they really know their roles. Even though we are completely biased towards one of the baristas, we did have coffee made for us by Sam, and it was also top notch. The food has been beyond compare. Our first night in the restaurant with our adult children... our waiters were Oli and Alex. Such excellent servers - good natured, competent and knowledgeable. We couldn't find fault with any part. We could only manage 2 courses, and were very glad that we weren't required to order dessert at the beginning as we were all quite stuffed. Breakfast every day has been a joy. From drip/barista coffees - to the generous portions served by Ethan and Charlotte. We also enjoyed a fabulous toasted sandwich through room service, for our evening in. Last night we partook in the Portlander Potluck. I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone, to share in this delightful spectacle. We were served again by Oli and Alex, and they are quite a good team. The smaller servings were an absolute must. There is no way possible for two people to manage such fare, if full sized meals were given. We were already on the verge of popping. The first course with the ciabatta and crudetè were delicious (I would love to know the recipe or supplier of the house pickles!), the Palliser Bay lamb, and rib rack were so succulent, the cress was a perfect foil. The next course of 21 day aged steak with a roasted garlic sauce, the Port wine jus and mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes with truffles, and the Ceasar salad would have been a wonderful finale if that's where we stopped, but the Chef's finished us off with certainly the best dessert trio there ever could be. We were very happy to be able to thank the team last night, before we wobbled away from the restaurant. We we glad to be able to walk up to the second floor, before taking the elevator to our floor. So, as I sit here across from La Marzocco, alternating between my second, perfectly made soy latte and an oj... I believe that this weekend has been quite perfect.

Many thanks to all of the staff, including house keeping and reception. They are all...

My husband and I stayed here last night. He decided to surprise me with a 'staycation' for my birthday, and decided to splurge on a "Harbour View Room". He also noted in the box provided that we were celebrating my birthday.

The Good the towels are fluffy the kitchenette was well equipped the water pressure in the shower was very good End of list

The Bad we could not figure out how to work the ancient heating/cooling system. A random convo in the lift before checking out revealed the issue was shared with at least two other couples there was a considerable gap in the door to the room, which meant light was streaming in all night - the door is directly across from the bed the curtains don't completely block out the windows, and one window is over a built-in desk, making it especially difficult the "dream" bed is no longer comfortable and likely is at the end of its useful life the balcony was covered in lichen and dirt, as was the sliding doors leading to it. the pool is extremely echo-y, which is an issue when there are screaming toddlers and groups playing Marco/Polo. neither the sauna nor the hot tub are actually hot it appears the previous occupier of our room turned off the refrigerator, and all of the ice in the freezer section melted. When we opened the door, all of the water poured down the fridge we could clearly hear the people next to us, who were enjoying themselves until the wee hours of the morning

The Ugly We booked a Harbour View Room, but were placed into a corner room, which did not have the advertised view of the harbour (a full length window). I didn't realise this until the next morning, as I passed by the room next to us and saw the view we had actually paid for. I raised this with the desk on check-out, and the first person fobbed me off to the manager, who told me we should have asked to move rooms, and then fobbed me off to someone else who "definitely" would call me "today". Of course we didn't hear back. They already have our money!

If you book this very expensive room, BE SURE you are not put in a shitty corner room. Even though it is marked as "harbour view" it actually is a city / balcony room. This is a deceptive practice.

Actually, just don't stay here if you want to...