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Formule 1 Auckland

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  • 20 Wyndham St.
     Auckland
    +64 (9) 3089140Website
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Red Mezz
Red Mezz
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
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3
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Editor Pick

An Excellent Alternative in Cheap Accomodation

  • May 27, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Red Mezz from Inverness, Scotland
An Excellent Alternative in Cheap Accomodation

On our second visit to the City of Sails - after having a very bad hostelling experience when we first arrived in the country - we decided to look around a bit before making any accommodation decisions.

We were returning from Fiji - hot, tired and very travel weary, and after having no real phone or internet access for several weeks on the islands, landed in New Zealand with nowhere to stay. Something that often proved difficult in New Zealand.

We put our bags on a trolley and headed to the free internet offered by the airport (Auckland airport is great for that - head either downstairs near the Tourist Information, or upstairs just before you get to Duty free, and there are Sony stations set up that have laptops with free internet) to look for a place to stay.

All the hostels we found were on Fort Street, and we'd not had a great experience there, and had heard even worse stories than ours of other hostels.
So we decided to check hotels instead.

In New Zealand - this is often completely unfeasible if you are on a hostel budget. Even the lowest rent motels are usually over $100 per night, and only go up from there.

However, we discovered a bit of a gem on this trip - and I highly recommend it to anyone arriving in the city on a budget, or just simply wanting a place to sleep.
Right around the corner from Fort Street (on the same bus route from the airport) is Wyndham St, and on it is the Formule 1. These cheap option hotels are often seen around Europe - and this one was exceptional value for price.
We ended up staying there more than once, and both times our experience was a good one. It is basic - the rooms are quite small, but you have a good bed, linen, TV, private bathroom, and even a little kitchenette.
Every time we had no problem getting a room, the service was efficient and pleasant, and very very easy.
And - if you request the highest room possible - you get wonderful views of the city.
This is basically just a 'sleeping' hotel - offering good, central, secluded stop to escape from the city after a long day of travel.
It also offers laundry, and best of all lockers for your luggage.
For $3-4 you can rent a locker for up to 4 hours to store your luggage while you sight see or await a bus. This is invaluable in the city, and one locker managed to get all of our bags (two rucksacks, two day packs, a laptop and a handbag) So very, very good value.

And though this is a bit more expensive than the hostels a few streets over - only just. And if you are travelling with two people, it almost comes out the same, as Formule 1 charges per room, rather than per person.

Excellent for the businessman stopping over for the night - or the budget traveller tired of hostels. Very highly recommended.

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