Hotels We Love

Auckland, The Hilton

The interior may be generic 90’s minimalism but the sensational location on a wharf over the harbour makes this a wonderful spot for a hotel. Make sure you have a room on the sea side of the building but take care to shut your curtains at night as cruise ships often moor next to the hotel in the middle of the night and you can find your self face to face with someone’s cabin and balcony when you wake up. The best room is of course at the very end of the wharf. Go on, treat yourself.

Hilton Auckland, Princess Wharf, 147 Quay Street, Auckland, New Zealand, 1010. + 64 9 9782000; http://www.hilton.co.nz/

Queenstown, Eichardts

You need to be seriously cashed up to stay at Eichardts in Queenstown, which has reclaimed the elegance of its Gold Rush days, but with a modern comfortable twist. Roaring fire, a bottle of port and some Otago dried fruits and a good plate of cheese set up on a little table overlooking the view, a comfortable bed and a cheery bar downstairs (great for lunch). Eichardts costs more but it’s worth it. Our favourite hotel ON EARTH is not a cheap night, but with gracious service, roaring fires, possum fur rugs and the platter of port and local Otago cheeses they leave by the sofa when you return from the snow. There’s only five rooms so be sure to ask for one of those facing Lake Wakatipu.

Eichardts Private Hotel, Marine Parade, PO Box 1340, Queenstown, New Zealand. + 64 3 441 0450; http://www.eichardts.co.nz/

Sydney, Blue at Woolloomooloo

Situated in an old wharf jutting into a bay just a few around from the Opera House, Blue at Woolloomooloo is one of my favourite city hotels. Because you’re over the water every room has a sea view, the service is excellent, the rooms well designed and even though the fit out’s at least 10 years old the hotel still feels fresh. The sea scent hangs heavy in the air, there are plenty of great restaurants on the lower level along the wharf and everything Sydney has to offer is close by. On the down side, until recently this hotel was a W Hotel and since switching brands some subtle changes have let it down - free wireless broadband in reception and bar area is now only for 24 hours, lighting in the rooms suddenly isn’t so soft and well considered and bizarrely, there are blue fake fur cushions that look like flattened Sesame Street characters in each room. Ask for a room as far down the wharf as possible to avoid the traffic noise and take care not to leave your windows open at night - Sydney’s famous cockroaches can fly. Still, even with these things, the Blue at Woolloomooloo is one of the better inner city Sydney hotels.

Blue at Woolloomooloo, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Sydney, NSW 2011. + 61 2 9331 9000

Taipei, Ambience Hotel

For a safe bet for a bed in Taipei, Ambience Hotel is fairly good. It’s generic 90’s minimalism - real boutique size, Philippe Starck furniture and bathroom fittings, white lobby with sharp edges, fashion shows playing at reception and in the lifts - basically your standard cookie cutter trendy hotel that introduces nothing you haven’t seen before in every city you’ve ever been to but does a nice job of it all the same and is still a million times better than the alternatives on offer. The rooms are very spacious compared to most in this part of the world and offer free Wi-Fi which is nice because free anything is a rarity these days, very comfy beds and plenty of channels of B grade Hollywood movies in case you want some inane chatter to fall asleep to. The view’s nothing to write home about but the lighting’s well considered so keeping the curtains drawn and the lights low is the best option. I was there at the beginning of spring when it’s still cold out and raining constantly and inside the temperate matched the design in that it was never cozy. I was cold the entire time I was there because the air conditioner wouldn’t go past 20.5C and turning it off did nothing to warm the place up either. Thank goodness for cashmere cardigans and wooly socks. Also, don’t bother asking room service to bring you a pot of milk for your tea. They won’t. Though they will come all the way up from reception to tell you they can’t bring you milk. Also, not many of the staff speak English so you’re often left hanging on the phone while you get passed from staff member to staff member until someone can help you or not help you as the case may be.

The look and feel may be generic and obvious but it is still comfortable and definitely the best option I’ve seen in Taipei so far.

Ambience hotel, 64 sec 1 Chang-an E Road, Taipei, 104, Taiwan. + 02 2541 0077; www.ambiencehotel.com.tw

Tokyo, The Claska

Bottom line on The Claska: a must. Book early though as there are very few rooms and they’re often fully booked.

Claska Hotel, 1-3-18 Chuo-cho, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-0001. + 03 3719 8121; www.claska.com

Venice, Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal

With a prime location on the Grand Canal and small boats of all kinds gliding past you every minute you can’t help but feel close to the molto chic lifestyle that Peggy Guggenheim lived in Venice when you stay here… and it is not often that I like the decor of a hotel lobby but this one gets my seal of approval.

Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal, San Marco, 1332 - 30124 Venezia. + 39 041 5200211; http://monaco.hotelinvenice.com/