The Muse Christchurch, Art Hotel

At $600 a night, I expected more for the price. The rooms are small compared with other Christchurch hotels, there’s no minibar or room service, and the QR code for ordering from the rooftop bar didn’t work. You also can’t stream from your device to the TV, and reception is moving to virtual check-in without a person there. The rooftop bar’s thumping music is another issue, as other reviews have mentioned. Those things felt acceptable when I used to pay $150 a night at The Muse, but at this rate there are better Christchurch hotels with larger rooms.

The rooftop bar is open to the public and played very loud music until 11 pm. I was trying to get an early night before my flight, so that was annoying, though I imagine it was because my room was directly below it. On the plus side, breakfast at the neighbouring cafe was really good, and I could order from the full menu instead of just choosing a pastry and coffee. My sixth-floor room also had lovely views of the hills around the city, and the location made it easy to explore Christchurch.

I felt unsafe after getting the strong impression that someone had been in my room while I was out. I was worried the towels might have been tampered with, so I didn’t feel comfortable using them. That came after a deeply upsetting interaction with Tejas at the front desk. Her manner felt rude and unprofessional, and I felt threatened and distressed. She even made me apologise to her, something I’ve never experienced at a hotel. I was nearly in tears. The conversation should be visible on CCTV around 6 pm on 24th Dec. I had a lovely 14-day trip around New Zealand overall, and most people and hotels were wonderful, but this experience with Tejas completely ruined what could have been a good stay. I wouldn’t recommend the hotel based on how I was treated.

The hotel itself was fine, but I’ve been asking for my invoice for weeks and still haven’t received it. They take days to reply to simple messages and haven’t acted on what I requested.