Novotel Auckland Ellerslie

Michelle B5 months ago

Novotel and Ibis are in the same building so share reception and facilities. I find this strange, as they are different brands with different offerings. ||Room was tired, bathroom was clean but roof had dirty finger print marks (probably from tradie fixing lights or sprinklers). The bathroom was small with a shower over the bath. ||There was a horrible humming noise in the room - I think it was the in-house ventilation. It wasn’t loud, but it was there in the background and enough to be annoying (especially when trying to sleep).||In Novotels attempt to be sustainable there are no rubbish bin liners - I find this unhygienic, particularly for sanitary products (no sanitary bags available either.||One of the lifts wasn’t working and this caused backlog and frustration with guests. I was there for 4 nights and it only worked on my first night. A lift out of order sign or note to the guests would have been the nice thing to do.||The lighting in the whole hotel was dim and since my room was at the end of the hallway, I felt a little scared/unsafe - I have stayed at many hotels with dim lights for sustainability but they would go brighter as you walked into the space.||Parking is a nightmare. I knew I had to pay prior to going, but I didn’t know it was limited and if I came after 7pm I probably wouldn’t get a park. There is another carpark (I was told gate 3 of the racecourse) but I couldn’t even see where this was and didn’t fancy a long walk at night in heels. This meant I stayed in the hotel in the evenings and gave me the feeling of being restricted to the hotel. ||One day my keycard wasn’t working so I had to go to reception. She asked how my stay was and I said “to be honest a bit disappointing” - she didn’t ask any further questions or even respond (just looked akward). She was then going to give me a replacement key without even asking for ID. I’ve had many keycards not work over the years, but I have always been asked to prove my identify before giving me a new card. This just added to my unsafe feeling! ||The bar staff were efficient but not overly friendly. The food was good - usual Novotel standard.||I stay at Novotels because they are fairly consistent worldwide. Not so with Novotel Ellerslie. It has a lot of work to do!