Rydges Auckland — Hotel in Waitematā

Well, one thing I didn't miss over the pandemic was the IGNORANCE of this buildings DJs, who like to throw parties, mainly on Saturday nights, with an extremely heavy base!! Who cares if the building next door has been MY HOME for nearly two decades!!

While I try hard to self isolate in peace and quiet with an extremely bad case of Covid in a neighbouring apartment building, my HOME of nearly TWENTY years, this place is once again in heavy DJ PARTY MODE! I'm pretty sure when you were an isolation hotel for so long, your hundreds of isolating people were left in peace and quiet. Well, I certainly didn't disturb them. But now it's slightly different for me, isn't it??! Just as long as you keep getting your money.

20/10/2023: So here we go again, another season of DJs disturbing THE PEACE! I was here first, 20 years!, my home! So when do I disturb you?!! NEVER is the short answer! I need to have my window open in the coming summer days, but I CAN'T when you have your disrespectful base pumped up so loud...

So, here we are again, a Wednesday night on a cold May night. It really doesn't matter when you decide to have someone singing live loud with extremely heavy bass well after 10.30pm does it??!! If only I could constantly throw live loud singing or heavy bass DJs in the backyards of your artists, staff, guests, and anagement. See how you would like losing endless vital sleep??!! 20 years ago, when I moved into my home, you didn't have your little money making nightclubs on top of your building, SO I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO MOVE AS I WAS HERE FIRST!!! Again, did I disturb all your endless isolating victims through the pandemic? Short answer, NO!!! Imagine if I had set up my own mobile DJ system outside your front door through the pandemic?! I'm pretty sure I would have been asked to move on, disturbing all your isolating victims??!! Yeah, different strokes for different folks, isn't it??!

02/11/2024: TELL YOUR DICKHEAD DJ TO TURN HIS SHIT BASS OFF SO I CAN SLEEP, I HAVE WORK TOMORROW! CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN I KEPT YOUR DJ OR ANY EMPLOYEE OF RYDGES UP WITH ENDLESS THUMPING BASS BEATS?!! MORE DISGRACE FROM THIS HOTEL... 😡

14/12/2024: So it's glorious summer time, another summer living next to this HELL called RYDGES. Yet another BASS PUMPING Saturday night! I'm just trying to have my usual quiet night of nearly 20 years. So once again, I have to close all my windows while I struggle in the afternoon heat and having to turn up my television to drown out the hideous bass noise! Just as long RYDGES gets their money from their endless SUMMERTIME NIGHTMARE NIGHTCLUB! Arrogant, ignorant, disgraceful. Clearly, this will never end. Clearly, you don't have to live here, do you!... 😡

01//02/2025: AND SO IT BEGINS FOR 2025! THIS UTTERLY DISGRACEFUL HOTEL ON IT'S BIG MISSION TO DISTURB THE SURROUNDING PEACE OF NORMAL PEOPLES HOMES! IT'S 23:40, AND I'M STILL BEING SUBJECTED TO BASS THUMPING BEATS IN MY HOME OF 20 YEARS! WHO CARES IF I HAVE TO CLOSE ALL MY WINDOWS IN THIS SUMMER HEAT SO I CAN TRY AND SLEEP?!! SOME OF US HAVE TO WORK IN THE MORNING, PRETTY CONFIDENT THE DJ DOESN'T?!! BUT ONCE AGAIN, WHO CARES RIGHT?! ONCE AGAIN, DISGRACEFUL!!! I ENJOYED THIS PLACE SHUTDOWN FOR MONTHS THROUGH MANY LOCKDOWNS!

OH OUTSTANDING! ANOTHER NIGHT OF UTTER HORRIBLE SREAMING AND SHOUTING AND LOUD MUSIC! HEY! DID I DISTURB YOU AND YOUR RECIDENTS ISOLATING FOR COVID 19?! NO! DO I DISTURB YOUR CURRENT VISITORS TO YOUR NIGHTMARE HOTEL?! NO! SO NOW I HAVE TO CLOSE ALL MY WINDOWS AND ALMOST SUFFOCATE FROM THE HEAT!

OH, AND THEIR HIDEOUS BASS HAS NOW STARTED! ROLL ON WINTER, WHEN GENERALLY THIS ENDLESS DISTURBING CRAP SHUTS DOWN! I HOPE AND PRAY...

24/05/2025: So here we have another horrible night of utterly and complete DISTURBING TRASH MUSIC. Loud bass thumping sound from this ignorant TRASH hotel. Open your your eyes! There is a 20-level apartment building right next door to you, NORMAL PEOPLE TRYING TO LIVE A QUIET LIFESTYLE IN OUR HOMES! STOP DISTURBING OUR BUILDING! This building has been here for...

This hotel was the worst experience of my entire New Zealand vacation. 1st, while being in the CBD sounds like a good idea, it was not. The area is so loud late into the evening and the windows let all the noise in, and there are so many people walking around and hanging out in front of the hotel.

The room is ok. Small fridge, kettle, coffee and tea, iron and hairdryer. The bed was really soft, like sink 6 inches into fluffy soft, so if you need a firmer bed for back support you are in trouble here. And the beds were on rollers so you couldn’t sit on it or lean against it without it moving. It would roll away from the wall and the pillows would slip off the bed in the middle of the night. We struggled with the AC/Heat. Our room was either cold or hot, it was hard to get it to stay at a comfortable temp.

We ordered room service from the kitchen our first night because we were so tired. I barely ate half my burger, it had no flavor. The “wagu “ meat was really tough and had big chunks of gristle in it. The tray sat out in the hallway a long time into the next day, the first sign that housekeeping was problematic.

As for housekeeping, I’m not sure it exists at this hotel. We never got service despite calling multiple times and requesting it. We needed sheets, towels, tp, more coffee and sugar, trash collection…nothing was ever done. We asked over the phone, we asked at the desk, we talked to management directly, we left the sign out that said please clean our room. It was never done. On check out the same manager had no explanation and just said he would let housekeeper know we had an issue. We received only a NZ$10 discount for each day for not getting service and basically told we did not matter as customers.

On the 3rd day of our stay we needed to leave out early because we had Hobbiton tickets. These tickets had to be purchased MONTHS in advance and you must be there on time or you will miss your tour. It’s about 2-2.5 hours away. We accounted for traffic and gave ourselves plenty of time, 3.25 hours. I called reception and said we needed our car, he said it would be 10-15 mins because the concierge was not there. That was fine, we figured in 15 mins for that. We get to the desk for our car 15 mins later and no car. The lady got our key and went to talk to someone and came back and said the manager would not allow anyone to get our car. The manager finally came out himself to explain that a valet had not shown up for work. Well I still need my car! I had to demand that I be allowed to get my own car! He walked us to the car park, seeming very irritated. Our car was so close to another car that we had to climb in through the passenger side. We were delayed so long that we barely made it on time for our tour. At check-out I had to testy to get this day of valet removed from our bill.

Overall this was not a good stay. Staff was not friendly or helpful which was completely different than every other hotel we stayed at in NZ. We were at a backpacking hostel in Wellington for NZ$40/night that was more pleasant than this hotel. If I’m paying over US$200 a night for a room I have expectations of receiving service that equals that value. This hotel really failed...

January 2019 - This is my updated review on this hotel. I’ve stayed here twice and both times were amazing. This hotel is tucked behind all other high-rise buildings in Auckland CBD but is on the same street with Sky City Casino. It is one of the best accommodations in Auckland. Bear in mind, it is also not the cheapest. However, you do get good professional customer service, clean room and a 24 hours reception cum room service.

The front door is locked at night, and you will need to use your room key (i.e. a swipe card) to open the front sliding glass door. There will always a hotel porter/ receptionist to greet or acknowledge your presence (i.e. saying hello to you).

The lift also requires the room key before you can [only] enter the floor level that you are staying and also to other general amenities. There is a restaurant, a bar, conference area and a gym. I haven’t check it out, so I can’t comment much on these areas.

The bed/ mattress that I got was medium firmness and yeah, it felt quite comfortable and very good. Also, the bathroom area is very clean and presentable, and I didn’t see any mould or mildew in the bathroom or the room.

This is a licensed premises and you can order alcoholic drinks 🍻🍸🍷🍾🍹🍺 at the bar or even drink in your own room.

I’m not sure about parking 🅿 but there is a valet service.

They accept cash, EFTPOS and credit card payments or pre-pay from their own website or third parties’ websites (such as Trivago...etc.), for those who want to know.

Friendly and professional staff.

Would I go back? Yes 😏 Would I recommend? Yes 😊

Security: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I feel safe when staying there. The surrounding areas get quite rowdy especially on Thurs, Fri and Sat nights. Ambience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. Nice and modern interior decor. Very presentable. Price: ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. High-end pricing compared to other hotels in this area (except for the Stamford Plaza). Value for money: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5.

Jan 2014 - Good location, with walking distance to most areas. Clean and tidy room, and smells very nice unlike some hotels with a musky smell. Good room size. Excellent customer service and staff is very professional. Also the breakfast is awesome. ☺👌

Would I...