Grand Central Serviced Apartments — Hotel in Waitematā

A railway station turned hotel situated in Auckland. When we first stepped into the building's lobby, we were blown away by the beautiful architecture and high ceilings that the building boasts. It's evident that many of the traditional elements of the building have been preserved and maintained over time, with a few tweaks and new additions.

We stayed for just one night - I would say the best part about our overall stay and experience, was the revamped bathroom in our suite. The bathroom was far from average, had clearly undergone a good and thorough renovation, and was clean and tidy with heated towel rails, nice drying towels and little bottles of conditioner, body wash and lotion to take away.

Unfortunately, this is where the good part of my review comes to an end... 🥲😭

Upon checking in, we were assisted by the receptionist at the main check in desk who appeared to be zoned out and a tad bit too relaxed. To our unpleasant surprise, we were asked to pay a security deposit of $50 which we were told will be refunded to us within 5 days.

This deposit request will catch you off guard, especially if you are on a tight budget and do not have funds immediately available - so please go prepared when checking in! When we booked online, at no point during the process were we notified that a deposit will be required upon checking in, so this left us feeling a tad bit annoyed - we did however pay the deposit.

Apart from the above, the walk to our room left us feeling a bit uneasy as we had to walk through different passages which looked dingy and dirty from the outside, and were accompanied by many different smells and sounds from the rooms that we passed.

Our room however was neat, clean and well-kept. It seemed that the room within this old building had undergone a renovation, especially with the bathroom. The room also contained a kitchen (minus stove) with mini bar fridge (the canned beverages are to be paid for if consumed).

There was also a sofa, comfortable bed with clean and neat bedding, a cupboard containing an iron, hair dryer and mirror. There was also a heater/fan so that kept us cool. The only downside about the room is that the windows were located directly across the bed!! If the curtains are wide open, you may have your neighbours from the top floor staring down into your room! So do keep that in mind. To curb the possibility of this, we kept the curtains closed at all times.

We had a comfortable sleep despite hearing sounds of things falling, people screaming and talking and just random noises in the passage. We were quite happy to check out the next morning.

PLEASE be warned that you will be met by a very, very unpleasant stench of urine upon checking out of the building in the morning. This stench will leave you reeling and heading out the lobby holding your breath!!!

Based on the above experience of my stay here, I WILL NOT RECOMMEND booking here even though the bathroom was great. If you are booking and paying for accomodation, every part of your experience and stay should be exceptional, not...

We picked this for its location next to the train station. The hotel is actually inside the old train station which is pretty cool. Our train was 6 hours late and we had some issues getting into the front door. There are so many signs and stickers, we found out we were trying to get into the wrong door. When we got to the right door, it, too, was locked. Someone let us in and we found the lobby, but no one was there. Again, a lot of signs, but I did spot one that said to call a number and it was answered pretty quickly. Better signage would really help. We got checked in when the clerk showed up fairly quickly after the call and he showed us the room. The room looked brand new. Nothing fancy, but a king bed, air conditioning which allowed us to keep the windows closed due to the train traffic, and the shower was amazing. They also had a mini French Press and coffee (they call it a "plunger" — haha), fridge,, kitchen sink and kitchen supplies and microwave. Nice soaps and good quality towels. I would recommend for a few nights stay. No restaurant although the Indian restaurant in the building smelled great. I wish them luck in growing their business as the building itself is a work of art. Note that the prices change a lot. We paid $96USD, but the price dropped to $69USD for the night of our stay, so you might get a great deal if you are flexible on...

We stayed here in 2019 and were looking forward to returning. The first night was unremarkable. On the second night at about 8pm there was a young male wandering the public areas shouting obscenities and arguing with his female partner. This went on for 2 hours so I asked them to be quiet. Later they knocked on my door, still agitated, to continue the discussion. A third person who appeared to be a member of staff was attempting to calm them down. When I asked if he worked there he replied, 'Sometimes'. The noise continued so I called the police. When the police arrived they addressed the situation and said it was the second time that night they'd been called to the Grand Central Serviced Apartments and informed me this wasn't unusual. The next morning the duty manager confirmed that police visits are a daily occurrence because apartments in the complex are used by the Min of Social Development to house homeless and other at risk people due to NZ's housing crisis. He also confirmed only one staff member is on duty at night and said, 'There are drug dealers living here'. Such a shame. I really can't recommend Grand Central Serviced Apartments. It's simply not safe, especially for female guests. Stay...