Walking into the new voco Auckland through its Wyndham St entrance, it's easy to see why the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) is trotting out so many of these "lifestyle" hotels globally.

The 201-room City of Sails version, built during the pandemic and completed in May, is New Zealand’s first. 

It and the voco Osaka, which opened in June, bring the international tally to 75 hotels – a big growth curve for a brand that has been in existence for only four years.

Built on a site formerly occupied for many decades by the New Zealand Herald, it is within a short stroll of the Viaduct, Commercial Bay and Britomart. It is also much taller than the old newspaper HQ, which was only a few storeys high. 

At 39 levels and 140 metres, the glass-and-concrete skyscraper is now in the top eight of the city’s tallest buildings, and is easily its highest hotel tower.

Partnership
IHG, the world’s largest hotel operator, worked with Australian hotel developer Pro-invest on the $200 million building.

It’s a partnership that has seen the development of 30 hotels in 11 cities and across nine IHG brands.

In Auckland’s case, uniquely, they opted to put a 294-room Holiday Inn Express into the same structure. The voco (a Latin word which Google Translate interprets as "I call" but IHG says means "to come together") is on floors 21 to 37. 

The Holiday Inn, which has its own entrance and lobby, takes up levels three to 19. Level 20 includes the building’s plant as well as additional structural support.

The voco Auckland and its sister hotel, the Holiday Inn Express, are on the corner of Albert and Wyndham Streets in the CBD. (Image: IHG) 

While they may be from the same family and live under the same roof, the two hotels aren’t really siblings. More like cousins who grew up very differently.

Voco is a class act. Its rooms are modern and luxe – featuring liberal use of marble, wood and glass. My room, a king double (27 square metres) on the 29th floor which would have set me back $400 had I not been a guest of Pro-invest, featured a walk-in rainforest shower, a stunning view of the Waitematā Harbour and a fully stocked fridge.

Eco-credentials

Televisions have Chromecast, there is coffee and tea, and the room also comes with bottles of both still and sparkling water, refillable from a dispenser on each floor. Pro-invest has also paid attention to the hotel's eco-credentials; the duvets on the beds, for example, are made out of plastic bottles, and the taps are aerated.

Rooms facing out to the Sky Tower come in at a slightly more modest $305 a night. The ginormous, 103sqm Waitematā penthouse suite will set you back more than $1,000, though that can fluctuate.  

Many of the rooms offer expansive views over the CBD, the Waitematā Harbour and the North Shore.
(Image: IHG) 

Holiday Inn, while not exactly the poor cousin, certainly offers a more functional or budget-conscious option. Its rooms are smaller, though well appointed. Slightly sterile in comparison. The fridges are empty, though of course there are plenty of shops nearby.

Both voco and the Holiday Inn have meeting and fitness rooms. Voco guests have access to five flexible meeting rooms on the top floor, while Holiday Inners have access to three, which hold about 40 people. The fitness rooms are on level one (voco) and level three (Holiday Inn). 

Pro-invest’s NZ director of sales, Richard Dodds, said room rates at the Holiday Inn start at about $229, though pricing across both hotels can be "dynamic", reflecting seasonal demand and room type.

Setting a high bar

Both hotels share the services of the food and beverage team, though voco comes with its own separate restaurant, Mozzarella & Co, on the ground floor. The trattoria-style place offers a full menu of Italian favourites, from pizzas to classics such as gnocchi al gorgonzola. 

Dodds said the restaurant was proving popular and had doubled its business largely as a result of spillover from the rooftop Bar Albert, the country's highest. 

That has been trading at capacity since it opened on Aug 26. Dodds said queues sometimes started forming at 3pm, and one recent Friday, staff had to turn away 400 people. 

The Holiday Inn Express's shared space. (Image: IHG) 

Bar Albert was the undeniable highlight of my stay. It’s arguably the coolest place I’ve been to in Auckland. Its drinks are themed with Auckland street names, notably its yummy Eden Crescent cocktail, which features Roots dry gin, yellow chartreuse, house-made pistachio and rosewater orgeat and a spray of rhubarb bitters, and is garnished with dried rose petals. Beers on tap are from Matakana’s Sawmill brewery and Peroni.

Poached chef

The food menu, prepared by executive chef Daniel Mueller – whom IHG snaffled from the Novotel – includes an antipasto platter, with cured meats, pickled vegetables, dips, olives and cheeses. Mueller, on hand last Thursday at Pro-invest’s formal launch of the hotel, spent the evening shucking more than 150 local oysters in the penthouse suite. I felt obliged to show my appreciation of his skills by devouring a few.

Executive chef Daniel Mueller (right) with executive sous chef Yanuar Hakim.  (Image: BusinessDesk)

 

Bar manager and head mixologist Chelsey York, an American who hails from “a little town” near Seattle, is truly the brains behind the operation, bringing her flair for Prohibition-style craft cocktails to the Albert.

York said she enjoyed designing balanced cocktail menus that were “approachable” for everyone, but the real bonus was seeing a guest take a sip of an espresso martini and go, “Ahhhh”.

All I know is that her Corpse Reviver 2 was eminently approachable!

Bar Albert is already so popular that people queue – sometimes from 3pm – to get in.
(Image: BusinessDesk)