Fable Auckland

Hotel review

Tucked off the long shopping drag of Queen Street, and five minutes from Auckland's harbour, and with only a small nameplate to indicate its presence, you're likely to walk past this hotel. A tip: look out for Louis Vuitton and Gucci, its neighbours. Before entering, look up above the street's awnings for the best view of this slender Art Deco building with its original name, ‘Windsor House’ carved in the stonework.

Opened in 1928 as a tea house and restaurant, it later became a modest hotel before, in 2017, being transformed into a luxurious five-star affair that harks back to its Art Deco grandeur. A phalanx of staff greets, whisks away luggage and proffers iced tea and mini chocolate brownies as soon as you step inside. It's a deep and narrow building which further emphasises its private-members’ club feel. The bar and restaurant are smartly subdued with parquet flooring, geometric-patterned carpets, velvet banquettes and armchairs, and calming colours of grey, silver and aquamarine.

Bedrooms, which tend to the long and narrow, are similarly sleek and understated monochrome affairs with crested wallpapers, thick carpets and large, marbled bathrooms. Splashes of amethyst, emerald and aquamarine in the velvet furnishings - to reflect the jewellery collection of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, and a somewhat tenuous link to the building’s name - add just the right amount of colour.

Dinner hits the right note between formal and casual with confidently cooked dishes given a contemporary spin: for example, spiced cured wagyu beef, pan-seared duck with caramelised onion puree or home-made pappardelle with scallops. The home-made focaccia bread is excellent. Breakfast is a hot and cold buffet, but there's an open kitchen and it's worth asking chef to cook you something fresh.

Helen Pickles Review published: 26/02/2024