When I was checking in to Hotel Off The Square, I was greeted by a very helpful, friendly and knowledgable receptionist. She helped me with my luggage, which was incredibly heavy and guided me to my room. The room was like nothing I have ever seen before out of all the Hotels I have stayed in. It was GREAT! The bed was comfortable, the shower had great pressure, and the whole layout and display of the room was outstanding! I even had a small balcony off my room, which I was more than happy with being a smoker! The art work displayed in my room and throughout the hotel was so impressive, and with most of the pieces for sale, I was tempted to purchase the lot! The tasteful nude prints, sporting prints and an amazing maori piece i found to be higly meaningful and sent shivers down my spine! I absolutley loved Hotel Off The Square and found it hard to leave! It has a great feel about the place, and has lively music playing throughout the hotel. Being placed in the centre of Town also added to the list of pro's for this hotel. Would reccommend to all!!!! And I cant wait to stay there when I next return to New Zealand!!!

A mate of mine suggested I stay at off the square, so, despite a few not so good experiences listed on this site, I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I took her advice. I arrived in a taxi from the airport and was greeted by a friendly blond guy on reception. After a quick checkin I wandered up to my room. Right away I was impressed with the place. Not only was it warm inside after coming in from the cold, but there was so much art all over the place that I almost felt like I was in a gallery. To get to my room I passed by a dinky little room with what I later found out was free internet, a few chairs with newspapers and books and stuff, and a whole lot more art. My room wasn't huge, but I wasn't planning a party, so I wasn't bothered. Bathroom was ace, bed was nottoohard nottoosoft (a pleasure after all the rock hard mattresses where I'm living in China!), there was music playing, and the tram rolled by outside my window - what a novelty! I got some great advice on local restaurants from the guy who checked me in, had a bit of a walk around, a bite to eat, and went back to wallow in my jetlag! Some truck cleaning the street woke me up through the night, and a car with a waytooloud exhaust made me cringe - but hey, in a hotel half a block from the centre of town, I guess you have to expect a little street noise. Again, I wasn't bothered. I stayed another two nights, with everything carrying on as it started. The Friday night was a bit noisier, but from the people I spoke to on the shuttle the next day, this is a common problem in a few hotels. It certainly didn't ruin the experience, and even if it did, something outside of the hotel shouldn't really affect the way I felt about the hotel itself. Gosh, how insightful! All in all, I loved the place, and if I didn't meet a nice local on my travels that offered me a bed in his flat, I'd be there again now. The kiwis are great - I think this hotel does them proud.

We booked this hotel via the Accor website but it appears Accor only act as agents and its independently run. Its certainly not a mainstream chain hotel. The owners have attempted to create a boutique, concept hotel with art hanging in the corridors and its in a book about 'NZ chic' but have missed the mark in some respects and it ends up being a bit strange. The location is great being literally metres from Cathedral Square. Its part of a rather depressing retail development full of vacant shops through which the tourist tram runs. But thats OK as all that is out the back, while the hotel is on the street. The tram is quite noisy, passing under the hotel, but it doesn't run very late. Our room was described as being superior but wasn't huge with a view through the glass roof of the aforementioned retail development and the decor was unexceptional. The bathroom was large. It had an unenclosed shower which was a bit annoying as water went over half the bathroom. The only lighting was by downlight, which made doing anything in front of the mirror difficult (this seems a common problem in NZ). On the plus side the service is quite good, they provide free apples, unrestricted free cabled and wireless internet access in rooms, and the parking is pretty good for a hotel in the middle of town (although you have to reserve it and it costs extra). Its not an unpleasant place to stay, it just doesn't come up to what I expect a boutique hotel to be.

I had booked a discounted standard room at this hotel over the net so I wasn't expecting great views or marble waterfalls in the bathroom, but was pleasantly surprised with the place nonetheless. The reception guy was very friendly and made me feel welcome. The room was on the small side but I found everything to be clean and tidy, and the balcony was a bonus for us smokers. The room was right over the tramway but the noise was minimal, there was however construction works at the other end of the mall, and they got started at about 6.30 am, so it was a bit noisy but OK. The bed itself was top notch and very comfortable. They provided free internet both for laptop owners within their room and they also had a desktop setup in a public room which also had a large TV and tea/coffee facilities. Free apples as well! Only one complaint was the bathroom - I noticed the hot and cold indicators on the shower tap were back to front (or to put it better - the plumbing was back to front), hence a long delay waiting for hot water until I had worked it out. Not only that but to get the right temperature involved infinitesimal movements, and the only decent pressure was when the showerhead was set to "jet" resulting in 3 streams of water blasting you in the face. The lighting was poor and hard to see when using the mirror. With that aside, I found the place lived up to it's claims and would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Great hotel, great location, great staff. I've stayed at the hotel on several occasions. The hotels Loft apartments (if available) are highly recommended.