Upgrade at the Airport Hotel
New Zealand Travelog #38
Holiday Inn Auckland Airport - Sat, 20 Apr 2024, 5pm
After touring the Hobbiton movie set this morning we tried to go for a waterfall hike. We got to the trailhead... only to find "Trail Closed" signs. And while in other circumstances we might have figured, Aw, let's trying hiking it anyway, today it was pouring rain. We bailed on the hike and just drove on to Auckland, where we're staying for the last two nights of our trip.
One bit of good news on this rainy day is that we got an upgrade at the hotel. Yay, elite status!
And this wasn't some notional upgrade to a merely marginally larger room, it's a "tower suite" with a fairly expansive living room separate from the bedroom.
The tower part of the tower suite becomes apparent here in the bedroom. The room is in a turret-like tower on a corner of the building. The ceiling's very high. The tower shape is maybe more obvious in the view from outside:
Here you can also see that the "tower" is only two storeys tall. 😂
Ultimately this upgrade is a good news/bad news situation. Good news: it's an upgrade. Bad news: it's still an airport hotel, meaning it's kind of run down, and it's a Holiday Inn (so not the poshest one to start with) at that.
Oh, but then there's this little number in the bathroom:
International electrical outlets! We could plug in our American electronics here without adapters. Fortunately we have a set of NZ adapters- the same set we bought for our Australian trip months ago- so we don't have to sit in the bathroom to use our computers, tablets, and phones. 🤣
Holiday Inn Auckland Airport - Sat, 20 Apr 2024, 5pm
After touring the Hobbiton movie set this morning we tried to go for a waterfall hike. We got to the trailhead... only to find "Trail Closed" signs. And while in other circumstances we might have figured, Aw, let's trying hiking it anyway, today it was pouring rain. We bailed on the hike and just drove on to Auckland, where we're staying for the last two nights of our trip.
One bit of good news on this rainy day is that we got an upgrade at the hotel. Yay, elite status!
And this wasn't some notional upgrade to a merely marginally larger room, it's a "tower suite" with a fairly expansive living room separate from the bedroom.
The tower part of the tower suite becomes apparent here in the bedroom. The room is in a turret-like tower on a corner of the building. The ceiling's very high. The tower shape is maybe more obvious in the view from outside:
Here you can also see that the "tower" is only two storeys tall. 😂
Ultimately this upgrade is a good news/bad news situation. Good news: it's an upgrade. Bad news: it's still an airport hotel, meaning it's kind of run down, and it's a Holiday Inn (so not the poshest one to start with) at that.
Oh, but then there's this little number in the bathroom:
International electrical outlets! We could plug in our American electronics here without adapters. Fortunately we have a set of NZ adapters- the same set we bought for our Australian trip months ago- so we don't have to sit in the bathroom to use our computers, tablets, and phones. 🤣