Novotel Christchurch Cathedral Square

“Updated historic hotel in great location”

Hotel has ideal city centre location - right next to Cathedral. It consists of two connected buildings - an old hotel that has been very effectively updated to current standards, and a modern block. We stayed in the "Heritage" section, with room overlooking cathedral. Recommended - good value.

“Novotel Christchurch provided the best service we have ever had in a hotel”

You walk into the Novotel and it feels old world stately charm. Going through into the reception area the look is modern and classy. The staff are lovely and welcoming, and you just feel like you are in for a wonderful time. The room on the first floor was luxurious and had a lovely view of Cathedral square, but we only stayed one night there because of the noise from the bar below. The staff again were very helpful and moved us to the 7th floor. The room was nice and it was very quiet. We had breakfast and a supper in the hotel restaurant, and again the staff provided great service and the food was very good. I would definitely recommend a Novotel hotel to my friends and will always look for a Novotel accommodation deal in the future.

“Not as expected”

Wev'e stayed in quite a few Novotels but this one is only average. room had some rather dated furniture, I was given a room with 2 beds instead of 1 king as confirmed, although we were booked in for inclusive breakfast we were told on arriving at restaurant that we would have to pay NZ$ 58. I then had to go to my room on 10th floor to get paperwork & take it to reception to proove I was then back to restaurant to eat. I booked rooms for my wife & I and also for my sister-in-law & her husband, Both rooms were booked & paid for at the same time by myself & it would have been nice to have had 2 rooms on same floor. I'm not the type to complain because most things seem a little trivial & I paid a decent rate for the rooms. I'm staying at Novotel Paddington on 1st January 2011 & this will be my 4th visit to this hotel and whilst I appreciate that this is newer it is far superior to C/church

“Shower doesn't have consistent hot water, not fixed after 3 days”

Shower kept changing hot/cold/hot/cold, burning/freezing. Complained every day, all they did was refund my parking fee, no other excuse or explanation was given. It was definitely not possible to shower a child, as the child would be burned. Avoid this hotel unless you don't need showers.

“Not impressed”

This hotel had one of the coldest and darkest rooms I've ever encountered. There is no central heating, but there is an extremely noisy (and fairly ineffective) fan heater on the wall, and there was also an extremely noisy freestanding dehumidifier as well (for good reason). The room was very cold and the air felt damp when I arrived, so this meant the fan heater was working to heat the damp air and the dehumidifier was necessary. The wind came up in the night which was enough to rattle the wooden casement window, thus adding to the discomfort of the room's temperature. The front desk is welcoming and the staff are very pleasant, but the person fronting the restaurant needs some training in customer service and communications skills. Additionally, the breakfast food presentation was off-putting with both the over-stewed tomatoes and scrambled eggs swimming in watery warming trays. I won't be going back!

“Stay away from Novotel Heritage Rooms”

I booked a Superior King Heritage Room. The room has no air-conditioning although a fan was supplied. When I complained, I was told by two different reception staff that that was the room I had booked so too bad, they would not move me or provide airconditioning. The hotel description says the room is air-conditioned so it is not the room I booked nor is the room or the service what I expect from a 4.5 star hotel. The rooms in the new part of the hotel are lovely and I would recommend you stay there. I had the chance to view a room because my friend is staying here as well not because the hotel offered to move me. DO NOT stay in the heritage room - it does not mean traditional, quirky or quaint. It means bathrooms with no bench space, no airconditioning which makes for a very uncomfortable night, an empty minibar, and poor access to powerpoints, Also I was charged a specific amount as an additional security charge which they actually charged to my credit card; it was not an impress as with other hotels. I highly recommend you stay in the new part of the hotel. Im an not impressed.

“lousy hotel for what it costs”

old no air con no mini bar noisy from outside and inside

“Not impressed”

We were put in the old part of the hotel- rooms were not airconditioned as advertised. It was hot, small and uncomfortable. If we opened the window to get some air in, we couldn't sleep because of the noise outside. For the cost, it was unacceptable. I will not recommend this hotel to anyone.