Bolton Hotel, Wellington

I was looking for a hotel with some great amenities and found this hotel which may be under-rated for what they are offering. Bolton hotel is situated on the northern side of the CBD next to the Parliament.

I booked the Premier Suite, which is a 1 bedroom suite with kitchen facility, washing/drying machine, living/dining area, and a separate bathtub in room, which is a rare thing in a 5 star hotel to have all of these combined. The cost of the stay is around $275 per night, which is very decent considering that is the price for a standard room in a 5 star hotel plus it is a peak holiday season.

One other reason I chose this hotel is their wellness facility, they have most of the standard facilities such as a gym and swimming pool plus a spa bath and a sauna.

CHECK IN:

I arrive at the hotel just after 11am, which is much before the check in time of 3pm. The staff was very friendly and arranged to have my paperwork sorted so that I can get the key when the room is ready. I left my luggage with them and they offered to send it up to the room which I have accepted.

PREMIER SUITE:

This is a 1 bedroom suite with separate room and living room / dining. Upon entering, the kitchen and bathroom are at the very front of the room. The kitchen is a full kitchen setup with all the things you need to make a meal, an electric stove top, oven and microwave. There's also a dishwasher and washing machine located here, which is very rare to see a hotel come set up as an apartment style, a handy thing to have especially if you are staying for a few nights.

Further past the kitchen is a dining table with 2 seats, and then leading further into the room is the living room with a work desk. There are a 2 seater sofa and a 1 seater lounge chair, along with a table for you to put your drinks or whatever you may prefer.

This is where you will see your separate bedroom, come in a large size king bed, with 2 bedside tables and an iPad for all of your needs and questions about the property and amenities. Also in the room is a decent size TV and a closet with safe.

The bathroom can be entered here as well as next to the main entrance into the suite. The toilet come with a large desk to put all of your products, but lack makeup mirror (closeup mirror), also has a separate shower/bath. The only issue I have is the slow drainage of water, which sees the shower being close to flooding the entire bathroom, and the temperature knob which is hard to get the right temperature as it changes the temperature too much with very little adjustment. The bathtub tap is also loose and felt like I could break it anytime, I'm not sure if it's a glue on plate or something along those nature but it felt like a cheap workmanship.

The view of the room wasn't anything spectacular (hopefully you are not superstitious otherwise you might want to avoid booking this area), but this is a typical view even for many other hotels in the area because it's pretty compact and surrounded by terrain.

AMENITIES

The hotel has a fitness centre, lap pool, spa and sauna facility. They are located on the 3rd floor and is within the same room. The entrance signage says Fitness Centre which may be slightly confusing but this is the right place.

The spa pool can fit 2 people, but more if you do not need the jet blast. The sauna can be manually activated outside, which takes about 20 minutes to warm up and is on a 60 minutes timer. You should activate it first then use the pool or spa or gym and then head in after 20 minutes. There is also a shower and changing room for your convenience. The fitness centre seems small and has basic equipment to meet your basic fitness needs.

As I was there during non-peak period, I have the whole place to myself which is nice and peaceful.

COMPLIMENTARY WINE

I have contacted them a few days prior to try to get an upgrade or to view their Residence Suite, which seems really impressive. They responded within a day and told me that it is booked out, which at that time the room was showing to be available for 1 night, as I was staying 2 nights there. They said they cannot arrange viewing either because they do not have enough staff to handle that. In return, they gave me a complimentary Brut worth roughly $30, which is a generous gesture as most other hotels I have been only offered cheaper $15 wine.

CONCLUSION

While this is an independent hotel with no big group to support them, they are offering some fairly good amenities that may even lack on other major 5 star properties. Their lower category rooms are less appealing both visually and design, but their top end category rooms are fairly contemporary, well designed, well equipped and offer some remarkable floor estate.

The staff were professional, friendly, and is what I would expect from a 5-star property.

This area is great for access to the Parliament, CBD and ferry crossing. Read my Wellington trip post to find out what I got up to while I was there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2L1qC7lehg