The Convent Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Waitematā

I’ll start with the good: |The hotel is lovely. It has a lot of charm, is unique and my room was very clean. I also didn’t experience any of the noise issues some people complain about, but I was upstairs. ||The bad:|When I entered my room I noted there wasn’t a secondary lock or deadbolt, which I thought was weird. Not 10 minutes later, I hear a knock at my door and then (without giving me time even get up and answer the door), some woman let herself in! She didn’t tell me who she was, she just mumbled something, grabbed something out of the fridge and left. I was stunned. I called the front desk to let them know and they awkwardly apologised, told me it was someone from housekeeping and said ‘it won’t happen again.’ I also asked why someone can just let themselves in my room and front desk told me not to worry, there wouldn’t be anyone there that night anyway. (!!!) Couple reasons why this is hugely problematic if it isn’t obvious: there should be a way to deadbolt the door. I am a solo female traveler, I’d prefer the extra level of security. Also, this person didn’t give me time to answer the door - what if I was in the shower, undressed, etc, you get the picture. Finally, having worked in hospo for years, I feel management didn’t handle this well at all. I’m not one to ask for free stuff, (and I didn’t), but if it were my hotel, to set things right, I would have offered a complimentary glass of wine or something along those lines to smooth over any ruffled feathers. I think a basic level of security and privacy is a very reasonable expectation and if that’s breached, something should be done to make the guest feel safe and welcome. Management basically shrugged their shoulders. I prefer giving my money to boutique hotels over massive multinational chains, but for almost $300, I won’t...

This hotel is really best for couples or two people on vacation together. It’s a beautiful building and the interior is well decorated. But a warning to families that the finery is not comfortable crammed into a room together (we were a party of 3). Please also know before booking that the restaurant is not for guests, it’s separate. So you will have to listen to that noise every night and probably never get in to actually try it. When I asked the hostess our first night there, after being referred to eat there by hotel staff, she very rudely said there were no openings for 3 our entire stay and “maybe” one for two people the next night. We stayed 5 nights. When I give 2 stars to service, I’m referring to the manager on duty and the hostess encounter I just described. The housekeepers do a fine job. When I asked a manager to send a maintenance person because our bathroom door was really squeaky, to the point of waking each other up in the middle of the night, he looked at me like I had horns growing out of my head. That never got fixed. We also found ants in our room. The location is convenient to Eden Park, but you’ll need to walk down the street for other dining options and the only nearby place open late is the other hotel, and the food there is not great. This experience was entirely counter to every other one we had in...

Wanted to like this hotel so much more than we did based on many glowing reviews and the punk nun decor schtick is unique though unsure why so much Indian memorabilia was included unless it was going cheap on Marketplace during fitout??

Stayed 3 nights as a couple in balcony room on top floor. Balcony (and our room) faced directly onto new units about 5m away so there is no view and no privacy. The room was minute (well I guess it was a nuns cell!) so absolutely no space for a suitcase let alone two, and the quirky bathroom was dusty and unwelcoming. TV tiny with only a very few free to air channels and no streaming included.

There is no public space to sit, have a tea or gather in other than your own room which is a real downer so it's your cell/room or go out. No other choice.

Ada restaurant is separately owned and run and is very very noisy so I'd avoid any room on ground floor or upstairs at that end of the building. We booked to eat there but the noise was overwhelming and the pretentious menu utterly confusing so we left.

We so wanted to like this clever renovation but it's a case of design overpowering function...it all looks funky and unique but just doesn't work well...