Chapel Apartments

Ours was a nicely located, two floor apartment with pretty much everything we needed. It would have been handy to have breakfast tea or milk supplied, but we got milk ourselves in time. Parking is on the street or across the road in the car park. We chose the street, since the car park seemed to only cover until 06:00, though I may have misunderstood.

We won’t return, mainly because of the parking hassle. We understood our apartment came with off street parking, and the website promised it, but it turned out only some apartments get a space. That was a major disadvantage with a young baby. Paid street parking may be available, though there’s no guarantee, and it’s free after 6 pm if you’re lucky. The parking building across the road shuts at 2 am. The converted old chapel is warm and comfortable, right in central Dunedin and close to food outlets and shopping, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the parking.

I’ve stayed here twice and would happily come again. The apartments are spacious, with high ceilings and lots of big windows. They’re right in central Dunedin, an easy walk to shopping on George St and the architecture around the octagon. There’s some off street parking. If there isn’t a spot reserved for your room, the owner will reimburse any parking costs you incur.

The apartments themselves are modern and functional, but the manager we dealt with was no help and seemed not to care. I’d booked through an agent more than a year ahead and paid in full for two nights. When we arrived, nobody was there. I called the number posted and was told our booking had been cancelled, even though nobody had cancelled it and our agent was just as confused as we were. The manager said she couldn’t fit us in the following night because it was fully booked with a big group. She offered one night, but said we’d have to pay again, despite my explaining we’d already paid and our agent would call to sort it out. It was getting late, we had kids, and she didn’t seem to care. Our agent later called to say she’d agreed to give us a room. When we got back, nobody was there again, just a key on the apartment door. Then the street was blocked off for asphalting, so we couldn’t get in. The road workers were helpful and guided us through, but said we couldn’t leave because of the fresh asphalt. There was roadwork noise all night. It explained why she had no bookings that night, and I’m pretty sure she would have been told the work was happening. We ended up driving another 3.5 hours to our next destination with hardly any sleep. It was ridiculous.