Fable Auckland, MGallery — Hotel in Waitematā

Disappointed with our stay at Fable Auckland. Considering the hotel is marketed as 5 star, the overall experience did not match. We decided to have a staycation in Auckland for our anniversary. We checked in at 2pm and were told our room was not yet ready. We waited till 3pm until we finally had access. A little annoyed we lost an hour of our stay in a hotel room. Our intention was to relax and unwind and we weren’t keen on roaming around the city for an hour - we literally did this several hours prior to check in! I asked what time the check out was, and because I used a grabone voucher the reply was “with the voucher 11am”. Considering an hour was taken off our stay that seemed a little cheeky. I would’ve appreciated being offered a late check out of midday.

We had to prebook exclusive use for the jacuzzi and sauna. We were quite excited to be taken by someone from our room to the jacuzzi room. That all seemed quite proper and fancy. When we got to the jacuzzi the jets had such minimal pressure! It didn’t even seem as though they were turned on. We searched everywhere for a button of some sort. We gave up after 10mins because sitting there just felt like we were in a warm bath. The water wasn’t even that hot. When we got back to the room I called the concierge to query the pressure on the jets. I could hear another staff member in the background telling the person I was on the phone to that the issue couldn’t be resolved right now because no one was on site for maintenance. I was reading through some earlier reviews and someone else noted a similar issue. Seems like the hotel just cannot be bothered attending to the issue. Unfortunately to me if there are no bubbles and no pressure coming out of the jets then that is not a jacuzzi. We couldn’t even be bothered going to the sauna at this point so we cancelled our booking for that.

We had $50 credit with our voucher to dine in Cookes restaurant. We noted on the cocktail menu that if you chose specific ones labelled as cocktail cart that the cocktail would be assembled in front of you at your table. We thought this was a cool experience, so both ordered cocktails from this ‘cocktail cart’. The cocktails were just made at the bar and brought over to us. I don’t understand why you would specifically write such a thing down in a menu and not follow through with it.

The elevators were a pain to ride up and down in. Our key card didn’t work so had to take it to reception to have it reprogrammed. One of the staff members even said to us the elevators were clunky and sometimes would take you back down to ground despite choosing another level.

Upon checking in I was told to ring ahead the next morning to organise the time for our car to fetched through valet parking. I called the concierge around 9am and said we wanted our car by 11am - which was checkout time. The lady who answered the call confirmed our room number and said it would be organised. Upon checking out at 11am our car was not there. We had to wait another 15mins because it seemed as though my request was not made and someone had to go and fetch the vehicle then and there.

The decor of the hotel is lovely, the T2 tea pots and cups everywhere are quite cute too. The staff overall were friendly. A lot of previous reviews also commented on the noise outside the hotel. We were on the 1st floor and couldn’t hear anything overnight, so actually had a very restful sleep.

Overall the experience we had at Fable is just a bit disappointing of a 5 star hotel. I would have been even more irritated I think if I had paid full price for everything and had the...

Not a five star experience. To the hotel - I will be sending an email tomorrow with a more in-depth summarization as we expect a partial refund and some kind of compensation for this experience. We were in Auckland to celebrate an anniversary and this place fell flat.

I have stayed in many Accor Hotels and prefer them. BEWARE of this one.

Don’t get me wrong, the staff is friendly (but passive) and this hotel is just not nice and of high quality. The staff was also super passive, multiple missteps and nothing offered beyond a basic smile and “we’re working on it!”

We stayed here twice during our time travelling in NZ. We received a complimentary upgrade both times, great! First time we waited over 90 minutes to get into our room past check in time and we’re told the original room we had booked was not available. If we wanted to get in on time, we would have had to downgrade from what we originally booked. This seemed to be normal as we saw many parties waiting to get into the room WELL after check in time over the duration of both our stays.

LUGGAGE CHECK - during our first stay, we left our luggage so we could walk around. When we returned we found it to just be sitting out in the open. Not secure in a city center to have our valuables just laying out. Seems to be a recurring issue from previous reviews on here.

POWER OUTAGE - went out in the lobby causing us to have to walk up over 7 flights of stairs and breakfast service to be cancelled. We weren’t notified of breakfast being closed. You would expect basic communication to hotel guests as a “5 star hotel.” We had also prepurchased breakfast and were offered no mention of credit until we asked. Still no follow up on that BTW. We were checking out this day and had to waste time finding somewhere and spend additional money.

BROKEN AC - our air conditioning (we believe as a result of the power) went out. This was the night before our flight. Auckland is humid and hot right now, this was the night before our 14 hour flight home and it was unbearable. We talked to another couple who experienced the same thing.

LOCATION/NOISE - On a map, this place looks great. But it’s next to a club that rages and thumps music until 4 am. The hotel offers ear plugs, but these don’t do anything to curb the noise and we were up all night.

CLEANLINESS - the hotel doesn’t feel clean at all in the rooms. In all honesty, it felt filthy. The pink velvet chairs have stains and are dingy. There was PUBIC HAIR all over around our toilet. Hairs all over the shower, stained bathrobes. The wallpaper is peeling and fading and there’s just dirt everywhere.

AMENITIES - All amenities are closed. Sauna, hot tub were not accessible.

ELEVATOR - old elevator. Takes you to random floors, barely can read room keys. The floor is still moving upwards as the doors open to take you down from your floor.

BREAKFAST QUALITY - if you’re not there at 6:30, it’s gross. Congealed eggs, cold food. Don’t bother purchasing it unless you intend to pay to eat a croissant and orange juice. Espresso not included and drip coffee has poor taste.

Overall, just not a great stay on either occasion. This is supposed to be a luxury hotel, or at least that is how it is advertised. It felt like a holiday inn. This is NOT a five star hotel and was disappointing as someone who prefers to stay in Accor hotels. We won’t be back and will be sharing...

A warm welcome helpful friendly staff the entire stay. For what is supposedly a “5” star property. The staff are what holds this place above average.

The breakfast bar is pitiful and obviously not fresh. Salami and processed cheese with drying edges. Yoghurt with the thick dried lines from the day before up the bowl. Cereal choices are not well thought out. Packet hollandaise used with cooked breakfast. It is a sad affair and overpriced. There were no pastries but I overheard another guest say that you need to arrive early so as not to miss out completely on the continental.

The cooked breakfast is served quickly though. As is the coffee. All served in T2 china which is very pretty.

The “superior” king room is obviously a twin bed pushed together. Comfy if you’re not in the middle. It is a normal sized hotel room. I can only imagine how tiny the non premium rooms are.

TV is Freeview and the usual basic sky package. Good sized screen with Bose soundbar. It’s a nice setup just make sure you ask how to use the remote first as there’s a trick to it.

Mini bar is mini. The best before labels show it doesn’t get used often. Nice touch to have two small bottles of otakiri still water. Disappointing to have to fill one’s kettle in the bathroom for tea. The fridge has milk spilt and dried through the door. There is no freezer but you can order ice from reception.

Being an old tea house. T2 is advertised all over the website and although their china is used. The tea itself is not. The hotel preferring Dilmah and the welcome tea offering is a cold juice and tea mix with a stale centimetre square of a slice. Coffee capsules provided are genuine Nespresso but, they are all different flavours and just 3 capsules are provided. One of which is decaf. So one person can have a proper coffee and the other will need to have tea.

Jacuzzi and sauna have to be booked via reception in the hope that no one else is there first.

Parking is out the front entrance of the hotel on Queen Street. However all the apps for maps will take you to a derelict backend that is used for deliveries. If you’re going to order Uber eats write the poor delivery guy a note.

The 24 hour menu isn’t available. I wasn’t given a reason but maybe it’s discontinued? Was advised to order Uber. Overseas visitors may struggle after a long flight and no meals available.

The bathroom is spacious and has a fantastic large shower with excellent water pressure. The toiletries are nice. Eco friendly is considered all over the hotel. The air vent/fan doesn’t work and is filthy. It has hanging dust bunnies and web dangling from it.

For the same price I’d recommend you stay at Sky City Grand. However if you want to be at the bottom of queen st and don’t mind paying extra for genuinely lovely staff and a very pretty decor. Then the Fable is decent enough and I’d stay again just to support the hardworking...