Law Courts Hotel

The service was great, and the owner-manager and housekeeping staff were really friendly. Our room was tidy and comfortable, with enough bedding and nice hot water. There wasn’t much of a kitchen, just a mini fridge, a table and some cups, with no utensils. The central location was handy, but Cumberland Street got pretty noisy, with trucks passing every night.

The handy location and decent price were the main positives, and there were plenty of towels. The room itself didn’t offer much: a small bathroom and sink, a broken coat hook, and just one open power socket at the desk. There was also an open, unfinished Coke bottle left in the room when I checked in, which left me unsure about how clean the rooms really were. There’s no laundromat or laundry service at the hotel, so if you run out of clean clothes, you have to travel out to the nearest laundromat on the outskirts of Dunedin. When I asked about laundry, reception staff didn’t seem very interested in helping. They were also responsible for the restaurant downstairs and often weren’t at reception, as if running the restaurant mattered more. The soundproofing was really poor. On my last night, my neighbour’s coughing and moving things around woke me at 4 a.m. for over an hour, even though I had earplugs in. It was the only night of my holiday when I didn’t get a good rest. Out of the five hotels and hostels I stayed in around New Zealand, this was unfortunately the weakest.

We only stayed one night, but the warm, friendly welcome made a good first impression. It’s right in the town centre and has free parking. Our room was small, but had what we needed, was warm and clean, and came with comfortable beds and a good shower. I’d stay here again.

The connected bar was a great spot, with good prices, lovely people and all the sports you could want. The staff were sweet and very accommodating.