The Convent Hotel

It was our first day in NZ and this hotel was a lovely surprise on a rainy day. The room was tiny as an old convent room, however well equipped, with a unique decor. The restaurant within the hotel l, Ada is also extremely good and worth to try.

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 stay here again.

Convent is very tidy and clean, cool aesthetic, great fit out. Great restaurant although run independently of hotel so can't charge to room etc. Rooms are small but probably should expect that from a convent. Very hard beds with zero give. Would encourage a mattress topper to take the edge of the hardness.

Convent Hotel was a great place to stay in Auckland. The building and rooms are full of character and interesting decor. The beds were comfortable and the bathroom were well equipped with very good showers. The complimentary crisps etc were much appreciated. The staff were very pleasant and helpful and came to our aid by finding and looking after our pack of travel documents which we accidently left behind. With the city centre only a 10 minutes drive away this a lovely place to stay if you visit Auckland.

Lovely, quirky hotel 2km from the CBD. We liked the loft style decor and the retro bathrooms. We were touring by car so free parking was a bonus, and access to the motorway was really easy. Liked the restaurant a lot but note it is closed on Sunday nights and all day Monday it’s no room service option. Close to Grey Lynn and Ponsonby so this wasn’t an issue for us. Good value and more personal than the chain hotels in the city.

Amazing accommodation; cannot fault ! As it's an older building there was some issue with noise of water pipes, but nothing to deter staying again. Beautifully accented and styled. Fantastic staff. Have already booked again for another stay later in the year.

It’s actually fairly shocking that they sell the downstairs rooms as accommodation. We had asked for an upstairs room and were told on arrival we’d been upgraded and were put in room one. The noise in to the small hours was unreal, having driven from Wellington and knowing we were catching a ten hour flight the following night it was the most stressful experience I’ve ever had in a hotel. If you want to get any sleep at all, do not book this hotel.

Lovely small hotel with private parking, within easy walk of Grey Lynn shops and cafes and just a bit further into Ponsonby. We had the Nun's Repose room, which was small (as advertised) but very comfortable and had the added bonus of a small covered verandah. The room was quiet and had everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The little snack welcome basket is a lovely touch, as was a greeting at the front door from the house cat, Carpark. They don't serve breakfast but there are great cafes nearby which open from as early as 7am and a couple of convenience stores (dairies) in the nearby string of shops. There's a little house bar which is nice and the team at reception are really friendly and helpful - they even lent us a top-up bus pass card! Highly recommend securing a table at Ada, the restaurant.