Contrasting Two Very Different Airport Hotels in Auckland at surprisingly similar prices.
International airports of any size attract a wide range of accommodation, from top end hotels, people renting out a spare bedroom in their house and just about everything in between. Auckland is no different.
There are some wonderful hotels near Auckland Airport. For example the Novotel Auckland Airport which is an excellent 4.5 star hotel located on the Airport grounds a few steps from the International Terminal. And then there is The Airport Gateway Hotel.
Not all hotels can be 5 stars, at a busy airport there’s travellers on all kind of budgets rolling though. What is surprising is the relatively small difference in price between the best and what I would describe as ‘also a place near the airport’.
A quick check in Booking.com reveals that a room at the Novotel Auckland Airport is NZ $284.
On the same date the Airport Gateway Hotel which Google optimistically describes as a 3 star hotel is $229
Now each of these hotels has managed to find a few good photos to put on their booking.com profile. But here’s some I took of each hotel. These are not taken by a professional photographer but they are both taken on the same day, neither hotel new we were coming.
First up Airport Gateway Hotel
Next stop the Novotel Auckland Airport
One of these two hotels (Novotel) is located 50 meters from the terminal door, The other is 3.4kn or 5 minutes drive from the airport in good traffic. One is a modern multi story hotel with views of the runways, the other (Gateway) is a single story hotel that opened in 1970. The room at Novotel is slightly bigger at 28 sqm versus 25 sqm at Airport Gateway Hotel.
Novotel Auckland Airport has a 4.4 out of 5 star rating on Google from over 4000 reviews. Most of the guests who left a review of 3 stars or below spoke of specific one off incidents that caused their displeasure and are more than balanced out by the large number of extremely positive reviews. Airport Gateways Reviews on the other hand average 3.1 stars from 450 reviews. But they contain a lot of 1 and 2 star reviews. I don’t wish to slander them as I have never stayed there, I have simply viewed the outside of the hotel and read the reviews. And done a price comparison on Booking.com.
There’s is plenty of need for cheap hotels. Not everybody can afford to stay in luxury. However a cheap hotel should be exactly that; cheap. If the price is similar then by definition is not cheap.
It does seem pricing for the Airport Gateway Hotel fluctuates wildly on booking sites, based on how far into the future you book. On some days the same room can be had for under $100, which seems far more reasonable.
If you are visiting Auckland and need a night near the airport, the standard of accommodation varies more widely than the price. Airport Gateway is not actually the worst hotel near the airport, you can do even worse. Most visitors will be much happier paying a little more for their room, and enjoying a reasonable standard of accommodation. If you are on a budget and looking for something cheap then make sure it is actually cheap.
When there a flight delays hotels fill up fast near the airport and you can easily end up paying top dollar for a substandard hotel. Find the best hotels near Auckland airport here.
