Emerald Inn

The garden and pool are beautiful. I was impressed by how clean and quiet the pool stayed over our weekend, and the location near the beach and Takapuna shopping area is superb. My family stayed here when I was a kid, 20-25 years ago, so it's lovely to see the place still going. We've now stayed in a ground-floor one-bedroom suite a couple of times. The rooms are nice, though not luxurious, and I'd disagree with Google's “plush quarters” description, unless maybe the penthouse is plush. The bathroom could use better ventilation and an upgraded shower, and heat pumps would help keep the room temperature consistent. Still, at this price and in this location, it's hard to quibble too much. The bed is comfortable and we slept well, which is the main thing. James, the manager, was lovely and helpful with our random questions. All the staff we met were great, and housekeeping came daily to change the towels and clear the rubbish. It's a perfect base for a long weekend, and we'll no doubt be back soon.

The garden and trees around the place are wonderful, the pool is lovely, and staff were amazing and very friendly. There's a short walk to the beach and plenty of shops nearby if you've got money. Parking is tight, though, and if you want an ocean view, go somewhere else. We had to climb flights of stairs with heavy bags and didn't get much advantage from it. For the price, it had what we needed for a good weekend, but a few things were frustrating. We ran a few baths because that was the drawcard, but both nights we ran out of hot water. The toilet seat squeaked whenever you sat on it. We had three tiny milks in the fridge for two nights, so I'm glad I'd brought my own. We thought the kitchenette meant we could cook breakfast, but our room only had a toaster and microwave, with no sink, hob or oven. I had to throw out food I'd bought to cook. The fridge was tiny too, so we went up the road for ice for my chilly bin and felt like we were camping. On the first day, the pool was full of debris.

The Inn has a pretty setting, lovely gardens and plenty of good eateries nearby. The location is fantastic, though the rooms are small. We were in an accessible room with an accessible bathroom, but there was nowhere to put clothes and keep them dry, which was annoying when sharing. There was no PowerPoint in the bathroom because it's a wet zone. There was no aircon, which made muggy summer nights very uncomfortable. They did provide a welcome pedestal fan, but I was still disappointed there was no A/c.

We were in room 540, which was beautiful and lovely and clean. We didn't use the spa bath, so can't comment on it. Parking right outside was handy, and we could walk to restaurants and the beach. The washing machine and dryer were a bonus, and the pool and seating area were lovely. Our flight was delayed by 5 hours, so we arrived late. I emailed reception and they said the instructions would be on the reception door. The reception staff were very friendly, pointed us in the right directions for everything and lent us an umbrella for the odd showers. Would highly recommend The Emerald.