Well, well, well, the staff were as friendly as puppies in a pet store, and checking in and out was smoother than a buttered-up slide. Now, about this hotel: it's nestled in the perfect spot, but parking? It's like trying to fit a giraffe into a Mini Cooper! But fear not, I'll unravel that parking yarn in a bit. All said and done, our stay was like a fine pizza – a few quirks on the crust, but oh-so-delicious overall!

Ah, parking, the ultimate quest! Free spots are as rare as unicorns here, folks. If you're not lucky enough to stumble upon those elusive freebies, your options are: shell out $32 for the hotel parking or go all-in with Sky City's $38 parking extravaganza. It's like a game of "find the needle in the haystack," except the needle costs $32 and the haystack $38!

The room, bed, bathroom etc were just lovely. Fabulous views and so wonderful to be near the beautiful Waikato River walks and close to the city. I was disappointed not to have a power socket in a convenient place. To charge my phone, I had to turn off the lamp, which I needed to read. The most stressful part was not being able to get a car park, esp as I was extremely tired. It was Sat night and I’m sure that the general public use the parks designated for Novotel. It would be helpful to have certificates for windscreens for guests and others towed away. Plenty of car parks available in the morning when I went for an early morning walk. Beautiful outlook from my window indicated in photo below.

Sorry, I’v combined this in my response above. These factors v much affected my stay and my willingness to stay again, esp given the cost.

Loved breakfast and staff were Bradley amazing in the restaurant esp Bradley. Very friendly and went out of his way to make us all comfortable. Heard someone say there was no more apple juice and came over from the bar with a glass as he had overheard :) He then noticed our kids sitting on the couches and got the tv remote and went through the channels with them to find something to watch. Little things like that just made it so enjoyable. Thank you Bradley :) ( I am pretty sure that was his name)

The car parking situation was very disapointing. I had no idea you didn't get a carpark so having to pay extra to park at SkyCity was not ideal esp seeing as we had kids and were coming and going to the Chiefs game.

The hotel is very central to cafes and restaurants and a nice river walking path.

I didn’t like that on arrival we were greeted at the door and asked if we had parking booked, then asked to hand over keys before we had checked in and unloaded our luggage. When we checked in we asked if there was only the valet option for parking at $32 a day, there is actually a free first come first served option which we went with (we were lucky, there was enough space that we able to park when we wanted to. I guess not everyone would be so lucky) so asked the valet staff member to cancel which they did but we felt that it was a quick way for them to charge $90 extra before we were even checked in.

Beds very comfy. Room lovely - facilities great. Had difficulty adjusting the aircon to cool. Room was a bit on the warm side. But very comfortable stay.

Noticed some of the staff we saw, or observed, although we did not directly speak to those particular staff, could be more friendly, and helpful, a smile would help - we observed some staff who didn't display friendly or very helpful. The Maori staff we engaged with were very friendly, helpful and displayed a happy demeanour, particularly the young woman that checked us in - excellent customer service, the young barman who served us drinks, and the young woman who took our dinner order that night. Also the Indian (I think) man who took our dessert order. Lovely staff.

The room was very comfortable for two Adults, good location and easy to get to via the lifts. The bed was very comfortable and the room was very quiet, no hallway or other room noises. Breakfast was the best, a great variety of food to suit all dietary requirements. Loved the Pancake Maker. The location of the Hotel is great right next door to SkyCity which was a bonus.

Only one small complaint the lack of parking, I did try to book a park online but seemingly that didn't work, it was kind of like 1st in first served for Valet parking. I had to use the Sky City Parking facility next door which wasn't a huge inconvenience but perhaps the Valet parking could be extended to providing Car Parks at SkyCity for its Hotel Guests. I was fortunate to find a carpark and SkyCity as they were also fairly scarce.

The room was great, good outlook and comfortable. Breakfast was quite good, especially as I am gluten intolerant, and there was enough to keep one interested. The bed was great, and with plenty of pillows, I was still able to raise my feet as medically required.

The cold fruit breakfast on the last day (24th October) was not as good as previous days. I have had some form of food poisoning which started in earnest by 2.00pm on the 24th October, and today, 14 days later, am still not able to have 3 meals a day. I have been extremely sick, and lost 5.5kg in the week after leaving the hotel. As I had no other food besides hotel food from 10.00am on the 23rd October, I can not see that the food poisoning came from anywhere else. My husband was also afflicted, but not as severely as I was.

Room was nice and breakfast was excellent.

Staff weren't very personable at the reception checking in. No smiles, no warm welcome. At breakfast, had to ask a member of the team to clear away plates from a previous customer as this was the only table available. I would expect staff to be looking out for guests that appear ready to finish and vacate tables and a fast turn around to meet the expectations of guests ready to be seated for breakfast. Also, the artwork in the room we stayed in wasn't that good. A bit of a miss match really and missing a trick to tie in with the abundance of local heritage the Waikato has to offer.

Location is good. Close to city centre and could easily walk down the road and find somewhere to have dinner. The Buffet brekkie was delicious and love that kids were free with every paying adult.

We were lucky to score a free carpark outside for the night but if we had to park in the sky city parking that would have been a bit of a pain. A bit on the pricey I would say however for the lack of amenities. Also one minor thing the toilet was squished in behind the door so u would have to close the door first to sit on it haha

The room was excellent, clean and spacious with everything we needed.

The service in the restaurant. The restaurant was busy but not full, tables were left uncleared which made it look very messy. Our main course was brought out without cutlery, the waiter went to get some but never returned! Luckily there was clean cutlery on an adjacent table which we took. The food was good but seriously let down by the poor service.