The Crowne Plaza is about 15 years old and still one of the better places to stay in Christchurch. It boasts not only nice rooms but also one of Christchurch's top restaurants in Canterbury Tales. You can also get authentic Japanese cuisine at the Yamagen or dine casually in Victoria Street Café. If you just want a drink, Rumpole’s Bar is the place to go. The bar has live sports coverage (big screen TV) and in the past a DJ if you want to have a dance a bit later on at night. The hotel has its own gym with range of exercise equipment and car parking ($20 or so each day). There are 298 rooms spread over 9 floors, many with a great view over Christchurch city.
The Crowne Plaza is located in Victoria Square linked to the Convention Centre by a covered walkway and across the road from Christchurch Casino. It is approximately a 5-10 minute stroll into the hub of Christchurch main shopping and business district. The international and domestic airport is 20 minutes away. (10kms)
We have stayed at this hotel numerous times due to its close and easy access to the convention centre. It is a comfortable and reliable hotel offering spacious rooms and modern amenities’.
Food = There are numerous restaurants within this hotel and all are excellent. The Japanese Restaurant called Yamagen offers authentic cuisine from teppan yaki to sushi, sukiyaki and sashimi. The teppan yaki is a fantastic and well worth a visit. (Bookings essential) as every night it was busy.
Other restaurants are located on lobby level and Canterbury Tales offers a contemporary modern menu. Breakfast is also served in the main restaurant, which was okay but not excellent.
There are two bars, the Atrium Bar is located next door to the restaurant and offers tea/coffee/snacks throughout the day and drinks in the evenings. The other bar called Rumpoles and it is a fabulous place to watch the local football on the big screen or another sporting event.
Room = our room was located on the 12th Club Floor; the room was spacious and comfortable with a lovely view of Victoria Square and the Avon River. Being on the 12th floor has an added bonus of offering complimentary continental breakfast at the Club Lounge on the sixth floor and free drinks and canapés at 5.30pm. In addition, free usage of the internet at the Club lounge. Broadband and a good size-working desk are also supplied in the rooms.
Other Amenities= Free bicycle hire, business centre, gym and valet car parking.
Disliked - The shower over the bath - difficult shower hose ..with little pressure.
Overall = the Crowne Plaza is a large and extremely comfortable hotel offering excellent restaurants and bars. Although the hotel is not modern, it offers tourists all requirements for a perfect stay in Christchurch.
Liked - Free drinks/canapes and internet service on 6th floor Club lounge. Catching the lift with the English Rugby Players and Zara Phillips who were all in town for a game against the All Blacks.
I stayed at the Crowne Plaza the last time I was in Christchurch with work. We also hosted a breakfast function here. The hotel has no pool or spa facilities but has a couple of good restaurants and a bar.
Room was big, clean and with all the amenities. Only problem was that it was verty cold in the winter, and we couldn't turn the heat up with A/C equipped in the room. There were some kind of motion detection sensors in the rooms which seemed to control the temperature automatically, even if set to manual setting.
Great service, they helped us with all the questions swiftly. Also, prepaid rates can be quite good value. There is a good quality a la carte restaurant in the hotel, and a few smaller ones, too.
on April 17, 2008
on June 26, 2008
on August 8, 2005
on September 4, 2005
