Reason for our stay

I’ve been excited for a few years knowing that the Hyatt brand was making a return to New Zealand. Being Auckland-based, it made sense for my wife and I to sneak in a night on a long weekend, especially while prices are lower because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the property

Here is some background to the property:

• Park Hyatt Auckland opened in 2020.

• The property is located on the water’s edge in Wynyard Quarter, which is a historical industrial district just a short walk from the Auckland CBD.

• The property offers expansive views across Wynyard Quarter's Lighter Basin and out to the Waitematā Harbour. 

• There are 195 guestrooms (including 23 suites), event spaces, a day spa (not open as at time of our visit), a 25-metre infinity pool, and a 24/7 fitness centre.

• With four restaurant and bar areas - Onemata, The Living Room, The Pantry Café and Captain’s Bar - you are spoilt for choice.

• Well-equipped digitally, the Park Hyatt Auckland offers advance app check-in, check-out, and the room folio and in-room dining menu are all accessible on your phone via a QR scan code in the room.

• All guests receive complimentary Wi-Fi regardless of how they book.

• Don’t want to park your car? You can use the 24/7 valet parking, at a charge.

Booking experience

When travelling with a toddler, you tend to look for space, which usually means looking past standard room options at suites. However, space comes at a premium, and a Park Suite at the Park Hyatt Auckland is no exception, costing on average anything between NZ$900 and $1,100 per night.

However, you can book into this suite for less than NZ$700 per night if you opt for points upgrade on a paid rate.

Here’s what I did:

1. Purchased 6,000 World of Hyatt points. These usually cost US$144 (~ NZ$215). However, as of time of writing, these was a 30% bonus points sale on, so you could buy 5,000 points and receive 6,500 for only US$120 (~ NZ$180).
   Note that unless you use a credit card that incurs no international transaction fees, you’ll usually be stung with a 2.5% surcharge on these rates. You can ‘get this back’ by using a cashback site like TopCashback.

2. Used the World of Hyatt app to book the ‘Lp Suite Pts Upgr’ rate (shown in first image below). For the night of our stay, this rate was NZ$475, which is the same price as a standard room. The 6,000 points gets you the upgrade into the Park Suite (second image below).

Following the two steps above, the upgraded reservation is confirmed instantly. Voila, a Park Suite is yours for between NZ$655-$690.

This is a fair price for a suite of this size, and regardless of your World of Hyatt status, comes with breakfast, which is a further saving of at least $20 per person.

The rate is also fully flexible, so while you won’t get a refund on your points purchase, if you need to change dates, you can just cancel at least 24 hours before your stay, get your points back, and then book for another night.

If you have a specific night that you’d like to stay, make sure you check availability of the above upgrade rate before you purchase points.

Stay experience

Arrival

There was plenty of free parking on the streets around Wynyard Quarter (our arrival day was a Sunday, with the day of departure a public holiday), so we just parked the car, and walked for a few minutes to the hotel, arriving at around 4pm.

Numerous staff welcomed us as we arrived, and we had our bags taken from us before we even walked in the front door.

I had used the World of Hyatt app to check-in before arrival, so most of the usual procedures had already been completed. I ticked on the check-in form for a newspaper to be brought to the room the next day. This was done with no issue, which was surprising as so many hotels offer this to their guests and then never actually follow through.

My wife sat down with our son while I was at the front desk. She was welcomed and brought a bottle of cooled water, which was a nice touch.

We were walked up to Room 525 on Level 5, and introduced to the suite, its features, how the blinds and lighting system worked etc.

The Room

The Park Suite is a premium 71 sqm corner suite. The room offers one king bed, a dining area, spacious marble bathroom with rain shower and separate soaking tub, walk-in wardrobe, a separate toilet room, and a private 8 sqm furnished balcony.

Amenities include:

• Full daily breakfast at Onemata for all registered guests. Each guest has a choice of pastry or fresh fruit dish to start, one main dish from their menu, and beverages of choice including unlimited coffee, tea, juices, and smoothies.

• Two 55” TVs

• Robes and slippers

• Mini bar

• Nespresso coffee machine

• STAYCAST / Google Chromecast for both TVs. We did have an issue accessing the Chromecast function on the living room TV, but we’re unsure if that was the fault of our own device or the hotel’s set up.

• Le Labo bath amenities

• Opening windows

The room is thoughtfully designed, and comfortably sized.

For me, it was the attention to detail. For example, the bottom of the shower glass is elevated a little above the floor, which means that the door passes clear over the top of the mat that you lay down to keep the floor dry. This is something that seems so logical, but most hotels miss this out, even those that are brand new. The tap is also located away from the shower head which means you can adjust the temperature before getting wet.

While the suite is described as open plan, each area of the suite can be closed off with solid wooden slider doors, giving privacy and flexibility of use.

Our son’s crib was originally set up in the bedroom, though we moved it to the walk-in wardrobe, as it was darker, quieter, and allowed us to enjoy the use of the bedroom with the lights on.

The balcony is very safe for children to play on, requiring only basic supervision. It can be accessed from both the bedroom and the living space.

Our room faced towards the restaurants and bars along the waterfront, which meant that it was a little noisy late at night. The hotel has done the best it can to provide noise-proofing, it’s just the nature of the property being low-rise in a popular area of the city. Some may be disturbed by it, but we found that we could fall asleep fine.

Onto the pictures, which will speak for themselves:

Food and Beverage

First up - the welcome amenity! The scones with manuka honeycomb dip were delicious, and not too sweet thanks to the blue cheese topping.

The rooms come with a well-stocked mini bar, with a mixture of sweet and savoury snacks, and a fridge stocked with drinks.

We enjoyed dinner in the room, ordering from the hotel’s in-room dining menu. We also ordered a kid’s meal for our son, which we thought was terrific value for its price (only NZ$12). We asked for no added salt on his meal, which was followed through without issue.

Staff also brought a highchair to the room for us to use, which made feeding our son much easier.

We ordered dessert for ourselves late at night, once our son was asleep. We asked whether the person bringing the food to our room could keep quiet when knocking. They did, and they brought the food in and took dinner dishes out without making any noise. It was so respectful - I simply cannot fault the customer service at this hotel in any way.

Breakfast was served à la carte style in Onemata - I cannot tell whether this is a permanent arrangement, or temporary during COVID-19.

At time of ordering, we were not told what the breakfast ‘inclusions’ were, but we had emailed to check beforehand so had some idea of what to select from the breakfast menu. One recommendation would be for staff to introduce what the inclusions are at time of taking the order, as we did mistakenly ask for a pastry basket, and were later told that we could only choose one type of pastry.

The hotel was happy to make some plain porridge for our son and added a side dish of strawberries. There was no additional charge for this, which was appreciated.

Activities

The heated infinity pool on Level 2 is a big plus. At 25m, it is very spacious with enough width for a couple of people to do some lap swimming. There are plenty of deck chairs, complete with towels and bottles of water.

As the pool is on the north face of the building, facing the harbour, it gets some strong southerly winds. This can make it a tad cool, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

The 24/7 fitness centre is one of the largest that I’ve seen in New Zealand, with an open exercise area, free weights, and state-of-the-art machines and equipment. The apples and fridge with cold bottled water are nice added touches.

The hotel will eventually include a spa, but it wasn’t open as of the date of our stay.

Departure

Easy, thanks to the convenience of the World of Hyatt app. We just dropped the room keys at the front desk and walked out the front door. The stay invoice was emailed to me directly later (you can check the charges on the app beforehand).

Things to know

Location

99 Halsey Street
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand

Contact

auckland.park@hyatt.com

Facts

Check-In Time: 3:00 PM
Check-Out Time: 11:00 AM
Children: Cots are free for bubs up to age two and each room can accommodate one child. Property also willing to help with extras, like a high-chair and meals.

How to Book

• Direct with the property (this is how we booked). You can sometimes find offers unique to the Park Hyatt Auckland.

• American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, which is exclusive to Platinum and Centurion cardholders (benefits include space-available upgrade on arrival - though not to a suite - noon check-in when available, guaranteed 4pm late check-out, daily breakfast for two, and a US$100 property credit).

• Hyatt Privé, which anyone can access by emailing Katie Schmit (benefits include space-available upgrade confirmed within 24 hours of booking - though not to a suite - early check-in and late check-out subject to availability, daily breakfast for two, a welcome amenity, and a US$100 property credit).

Summing up

There is much to be said for an international hotel chain that has over 60 years of hospitality experience. Although the Park Hyatt Auckland has only recently opened, the staff are incredibly well-trained, which is exceptionally endearing for a property in Auckland which has long been underserved by luxury hotels.

The property is well-designed, reflects the history and heritage of Auckland’s waterfront, and

There is little to fault from our stay, and we cannot wait to visit again.