The Bow Suites at the Hilton Auckland are terrific suites that feel drastically different from the standard rooms offered at the hotel. They come with beautiful wraparound balconies with terrific views and gorgeous marble bathrooms. I’ll have a full review of the entire Hilton Auckland property soon but first here’s my review on the Hilton Auckland Bow Suite.
Booking
We originally booked a standard room for 60,000 Hilton Honors points per night. These rooms were going for around $360 USD per night, so this was a decent use of Hilton points. At check-in we inquired if our Hilton Diamond status could get us an upgrade but were told that there was nothing available.
So we were checked into a standard room, which wasn’t bad. The room was a little basic but I liked the decor found in the room, especially by the bed.
However, it didn’t have much of a view and the bathroom’s grout looked like an old locker room. So we inquired further with the front desk about openings for upgrades.
Luckily an opening did come up after our first day and we were allowed to be moved from a standard room to a Bow sSuite for our last two nights. I’m very glad that we made the extra effort for the upgrade because it dramatically altered the feel of our stay.
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The Bow Suite
The Bow Suites were actually formerly a part of larger presidential suites but the hotel divided the suites up into smaller units. The Bow Suites sit at the end of the property overlooking the water and come to a point just like a bow of a ship which you can see in the photo below.
I was very impressed with the suite when I first walked in. It has a unique layout with a cool nautical themed balcony. Its open layout and floor to ceiling windows, has a bit of a loft feel to it that I really liked. This was a major upgrade from our prior room.
As soon as you enter the suite, there’s a large wardrobe and luggage bench with plenty of space for your bags.
There’s a small glass desk with two chairs, a lamp, and the room service menus. It’s a small workstation but it’s still functional. The cool part is that you have an ocean view from your work station.
They gave us a box of welcome chocolates even though we had already been checked in to the hotel for a couple of days which I thought was a very nice gesture.
The chocolates were also phenomenal.
On the other side of the desk, there’s a large 40″ flat screen TV.
There’a cabinet with mini-fridge and snack/drink options as well.
The suite is technically a junior suite since it’s just one room but because it’s so large and had the wrap-around balcony, it felt much larger and more luxurious than a typical junior suite.
The bed was very comfortable and came equipped with outlets on the right side and light controls on either side.
The other end of the suite has a sofa with a small glass coffee table.
This is a perfect place to relax with the doors/windows open as I’ll show further below.
Hilton Auckland Bow Suite bathroom
There’s a wide full-length mirror next to the bathroom which opens via a sliding door.
The suite’s bathroom is relatively spacious given the triangular layout. I loved the look of the bathroom with its beautiful marble walls and two sink areas.
The amenities were from Peter Thomas Roth and Crabtree & Evelyn.
There’s also a nice freestanding bathtub located directly under a window as well.
The one annoying this with this room is the bathroom door to the toilet. It closes at a weird angle in relation to the walls which resulted in both of us accidentally slamming the door shut a hand full of times.
The bathroom has a large window that looks out onto the water but also looks directly on to the balcony of the neighboring room. There’s definitely some potential for some serious awkward eye contact with the shades pulled up.
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The outdoor balcony
What makes this room so special is the wraparound balcony. It reminded me of the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas with the long balcony.
The bow of the balcony is a really cool feature.
On a couple of occasions, we ran down to the bar to use our free drink coupons and then came back up to the balcony to relax on the balcony and watch all of the boats make their way through the harbor. From the bow of the balcony, you have 270-degree views of the Hauraki Gulf, the Harbor and the Auckland Bridge.
The balcony doesn’t extend directly over the water as there’s a pathway for vehicles and parking below.
On the other side of the balcony, you’re completely exposed to the other nearby rooms and their balconies, so I preferred to remain on the other side. There’s still some decent views of the Auckland Skyline from this side though.
Floor to ceiling windows can really transform a room, especially when there’s a wraparound balcony. I really liked the way the suite opened up when we pulled the curtains up, allowing for natural light to brighten up the suite.
From the bed, we had a clear view of the water.
But what I really liked about the suite was sliding the floor to ceiling doors open and allowing the breeze to flow through the suite.
Open air suite
While pulling back the shades transformed the suite, pulling open the sliding doors added an entire new dimension to the room.
We did this on a beautiful cool day and had this perfect sea breeze blowing right through the suite. It felt amazing and it was peaceful listening to all of the harbor traffic come in and out.
As I mentioned earlier, the work station opens up to a great view of the harbor, which I thought was very cool.
Sunset
We caught a magnificent sunset the first night that were in the suite.
The sunset was mostly obscured by the other building, which houses residential units. While the scaffolding was a bit of an eyesore during our visit, the view was still spectacular.
I got so inspired by the view I busted out the MavicPro (drone) and tried to launch it from the balcony which was a horrible mistake. While there were no people around or underneath me so nobody was in danger, all of the metal and steel was interfering with the signal and the drone was literally flying with a mind of its own, zigging and zagging back and forth.
Luckily, I got it under control and somehow safely landed it back on the balcony, but I definitely learned where not to launch even if the drone settings suggest the connection is fine.
Final word on the Auckland Bow Suite
Overall, I loved this hotel room. I was a bit let down by the standard room but getting upgraded to the Bow Suite completely changed my outlook on the property. I’ll always remember relaxing on that balcony and inside the suite with the doors wide open and that perfect sea breeze blowing in. The Bow Suite can get pricey during peak season (which is when we visited) but if you can swing it or get upgraded, it will be worth it.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
