The Victoria Hotel Dunedin

Damien Chung
Jan 16, 2021
4 min read

Updated: Jun 9, 2021

The Victoria Hotel is a 4 star rated property located in central Dunedin. Given the population in Dunedin is relatively small, plus this is a university town with a majority of its population being university students, you won't find a handful of large chain hotel located here.

Dunedin is not the stop most tourist would make, nor is it well known to be a tourist destination. If you are interested to read what Dunedin has on offer, click HERE to find out more.

Apart from Quest being the only international brand located here, the rest are small locally owned hotel and motels. I have booked to stay here through Hotels.com, however back in November 2020, I emailed them to see whether they are keen to offer me something in exchange for me to help showcase their hotel. They have agreed to upgrade me from a Standard room to a Superior room, their property features 4 main categories with different bedding arrangements, starting with the most basic Standard room, Deluxe room, Superior room and Apartment. They have 2 different buildings, with the main one housing their Standard and Deluxe rooms while the new building houses their Superior and Apartment. Their new building opened around 3 years ago, featuring a modern design, bigger windows and modern upgrades.

The Senior Duty Manager Pavish got in touch with me after receiving my email, throughout the exchange he was very friendly, professional and approachable, I also appreciate that he took small things into consideration such as car parking (which costs $10 per night within their property) which he gave it to me as complimentary. This is not a sponsorship as I still paid for the room, they have only upgraded me in order for me to showcase their new room. All reviews given here are unbias as I want my audience to get a realistic expectation of what they could expect staying here, while holding the management accountable for any defects and mismanagement, but of course I am lying if I say that there's not going to be any favourite treatment since someone is aware of me doing a review. My main goal is to promote tourism and to give the hotel an opportunity to showcase their hospitality and also to bring tourist to visit Dunedin.

CHECK IN

The check in staff was friendly and very helpful. I don't think they have any idea that I have pre-arranged with the manager to do a review of this hotel, which is great as I need to be able to evaluate based on a general point and not allowing them to stage an act.

ROOM (SUPERIOR TWIN)

The Superior room is a decent size room with modern technology implemented across it. Entering the room, there's a build in wardrobe along with a kitchenette beside it. The usual coffee/tea and kettle are provided, an additional point for a microwave as this is a very useful feature to have. They have 3 sets of glasses, I'm not sure if it's planned but it worked out as there's 3 of us here.

The right side is the bathroom, with motion sensor activated lights to save energy (and no additional switches to find in the dark). The bathroom has a modern clean design with a switch activated shower, a first I have ever seen. One downside of the switch operated shower is the inability to control the water pressure as it will be constant, I do prefer to lower the pressure from time to time when needed.

This room is a Twin room, a Queen and a single bed, which is as big as they can put in this room layout, although I would have preferred a double bed.

While their bedding may not be big, their work desk is definitely one of the largest I have ever seen, enough space to seat 3 people comfortably.

Besides the work desk, there's a luggage rack and a chair. While this may actually be a good place to fit the bed, the balcony access could be restricted. The balcony has no furniture and doesn't provide any good view. Since this is only a 2 stories building and many other buildings around are higher, views are blocked from the room. The ground level room doesn't have a balcony and could be much noisier given the proximity to the car park, so if that is important to you, make sure to inform them when booking to stay.

The large TV is great for some time passing, while they did not provide the actual TV remote but there's a universal one, and it did not work, maybe the battery is dead, but I am curious as to what they did with the actual TV remote, and maybe housekeeping should do a check from time to time just to make sure everything works.

FACILITIES

One cool facility that I don't see anywhere else, is that they provide 2 Tesla fast charging stations in their parking lot. While this is very good news for Tesla drivers, I would have expected that they have some generic electric charger for non-Teslas. Regardless, if you do drive a Tesla, you might want to book a night here as you can simply charge your car in the car park during your stay. Throughout my stay, these 2 spots have been occupied by non-electric cars which is an issue if you do need to use it. I am not sure if they are the staff's cars or guests, but if it is needed, I am sure they will be able to vacate the cars as all vehicles have to be registered during check in.

There aren't any pool, spa or sauna facilities here, but there is a gym that you will be able to utilise during your stay, if walking around NZ bush track is not your thing or isn't enough to keep your muscle pumping.

Dirty laundry occupying most of your luggage? You can use the self service laundry facility here and have your clothes clean in an hour or 2. You will need to have some coins handy as they will only accept that.

CONCLUSION

Room Service Menu and other facilities

The Victoria Hotel Dunedin is an excellent hotel for your next trip through Dunedin. It offers the comfort of a house while you are away, giving you modern updated interior, spacious enough for a family and easy access to the town centre.