Microtel by Wyndham Wellington 25 Vivian Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011

"Bit cheeky hiding a bond in the fine print. Glad I had the coin to spare. Clean and comfortable room with the basics. Loved being able to lie in bed and cloud watch. Shower was awesome. Super close to what I needed. Agree the walls are thin but am a sound sleeper so was n/a"

"If you are wanting just a room close to CBD then this would work for you. The room had the hardest bed I've ever tried to sleep in! Hence I say 'tried to sleep in' as I got barely any sleep. The bathroom was a frosted glass partition in the corner of the room. It had a dimmable light on the mirror but I could not only dim this and not turn it off so this light shone through the frosted glass all night keeping the room quite light. The base of the shower was stainless steel and it flexed when you stood on it making a terrible noise that I was worried would disturb neighboring rooms. The walls between rooms were definitely not soundproof! The TV in my room did not work. The heatpump would not turn off so kept cutting in all night. The room was clean."

"I was happy with the room itself (size, cleanliness, bed comfort), though as other reviewers have noted, the walls are very thin. The hotel is unlikely to be a good option if you are a light sleeper. Good location within walking distance to the waterfront and key attractions. The hotel is let down by the poor communication of its staff and management. I arrived prior to check in time and my room wasn't ready, which is fair enough- but they said they would call me when it was ready, and never did. I was emailed by the hotel several hours after check in to ask when I was checking in- I queried whether they contacted me in error, and they never responded. I was told the 100 dollar bond would be refunded within a few days, but my bank confirmed that this was not done and was only refunded when the card hold expired. My emails in relation to the refund of the 100 dollar bond were ignored by Microtel for weeks at a time. (As an aside, a bond is unusual in this day and age, wasn't communicated beforehand, and wasn't credited back to my account for 30 days - as above, it wasn't until the card hold expired. Given the room was not cleaned or inspected during my stay or prior to check out and no member of staff would have seen any damage caused, what was the point of the bond?). It is a real shame, as this hotel has great potential. There are generally better options for staying in Wellington at a comparable price point. EDIT FOLLOWING BUSINESS RESPONSE: The poor communication continues. As I stated previously, the hotel simply did not refund the bond and it wasn't until the credit card hold expired that I was finally refunded. I can see the damage deposit is now stated on the third party booking platform, but it was not stated previously. At least future guests will be aware, but the refusal of this business to take full ownership of their mistakes is beyond frustrating."

"This might just be one of the last hotels in NZ to still demand a bond. There's a small text box during booking saying "A deposit of $100 is required," a detail that's easy to miss, as the other reviews here suggest. If you can't spare $100 for up to 30 days (as Guys Preston's review indicates), then you might find yourself in a bind. The hotel's noise insulation leaves much to be desired; I could hear conversations in the hallway. The room quality is inconsistent, ranging from ground floor rooms to the more preferable upper floor rooms. Also, the hotel chooses to provide a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, a decision that doesn't accommodate various hair types. If you can spare the extra $20-30 stay somewhere else"

"Rooms are nice enough if not a little weird. We paid extra for an internal room but didn't really get a traditional window, just a skylight. Not the hotels fault but the room was super noisy on Saturday with a party going on in a nextdoor building until about 2am."