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Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre offers 147 air-conditioned hotel rooms and suites, many of which have been refurbished in 2017. The hotel’s new Superior Rooms & Suites have been designed to feature a modern & contemporary vibe. Guests will be treated to upgraded, luxury beds combined with sumptuous linen ensuring a restful night’s sleep, plush new carpet, increased soundproofing, comfortable armchairs and a work desk, 49” flat screen televisions, free unlimited WiFi and individually controlled heat pumps/air conditioning. Guest services including a gymnasium and bar. The hotel's popular Garnett's Restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner daily. Located only minutes from the Hamilton city centre and conveniently located to reach any out-of-town places of interest, this Hamilton hotel is a favourite with business travellers and holiday makers alike. For families, the proximity of Waterworld is a real bonus and for horse racing enthusiasts, Te Rapa Racecourse is just a short walk away. The Base Hamilton - NZ's largest shopping centre is also just a few minutes walk from our Hamilton hotel. Distinction Hamilton also boasts some of the largest conference facilities in the Waikato area.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Qualmark.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Business
Location
100 Garnett Avenue Te Rapa, Hamilton 3241 New Zealand
Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
350 reviews
Getting there
Car recommended
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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The room was well appointed, comfortable bed, nice pillows and linen and clean. There were some cracked tiles in the bathroom, but other than that is was perfectly suitable for the price. The staff are very friendly. Breakfast at $38 I thought was a bit expensive. The grounds could definitely do with some work, paint the buildings and tidy the grounds along with planting some gardens would be of benefit as from the outside the hotel looks terrible.
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Date of stay: May 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 21 May 2023
Thank you for your review. Breakfast is $36.00 per person and the gardens are a work in progress.
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We recently stayed at the Distinction Hotel in Hamilton, as a family. First impressions when arriving at the hotel is that it is very run down, with the exterior in need of a lot of work and many of the common areas inside looking very tired.
Check in was quick and the front desk staff were very welcoming.
We stayed on the second floor which was only accessible by stairs. The exterior door also has to be unlocked with the room key. This did make the arrival and departure process a little bit tricky, trying to navigate the locked door and a staircase with our luggage and two small children. With that said, I am sure that a ground floor room could be requested.
The breakfast buffet was fantastic, you simply could not dream of more menu options to choose from! The food was tasty and well presented. The restaurant staff were lovely and very hospitable.
We stayed in one of the refurbished rooms and it was really nice, with comfortable beds and pillows.
The thing that really lets the hotel down is the cleanliness. You can see past a tired interior if it is clean, but this hotel unfortunately is not. The hallways and stairways were noticeably bad, with everything from food that had been dropped and then stepped on and crushed into the carpet through to leaves and mud. They definitely were not vacuumed once the entire time that we were there. Our bathroom had not been cleaned, there was hair on the shower walls and floors, marks all over the mirror and the floor was visibly dirty. There were also half-eaten lollies and wrappers on the ground in the main part of the room. We did phone Reception to give them the opportunity to hopefully rectify the situation for us, but all they could do was advise that the house keeping team was short staffed.
You can definitely look past the run down areas of the hotel as the refurbished rooms, great breakfast buffet and friendly staff overshadow those things. They really just need to sort the housekeeping side of the business out, that would be the thing that would prevent us from staying again but I genuinely hope that it was just a one-off.
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Date of stay: July 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Request a ground floor room if you have trouble navigating stairs, as there are no lifts.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 16 Jul 2023
Dear Heidi, Thank you for your constructive comments, I will most definitely take the matter up with Housekeeping. The 500 wing which you were in in particularly bad as there are leaves that get trodden into the carpet and I have made Housekeeping aware of this on a number of occasions. I knew that you had spoken with the Duty Manager on Friday as it was in our daily reports. It is true that we were tight on Housekeeping staff on Friday, but that is not an excuse not to clean the room properly. Kind Regards Colin
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You get a grand start to this hotel due to the size of the reception area, its huge! We got a superior triple room, which had two double beds & a single bed in one single room. Perfect for our family, for a single night stay we thought, except the beds were very close to each other and that didn't lend itself to a good night sleep with kids that move around a lot. We would get a family suite next time with a separate sleeping space for the adults.
The room itself was nice and clean, well stocked bathroom, good tv, so I would stay there again, just maybe on a couple's holiday. I must say that the entry foyer for the rooms was very low & dark, in direct contrast to the reception foyer, but that was a minor observation. Plenty of car parking located outside the rooms,
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Date of stay: January 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 5 Mar 2024
Thank you for your comments
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Incredibly disappointed with this accommodation. Room is tired and carpet has what appears to be blood drops on it. No bath mat or clothes hangars in the room. Staff were apologetic about hangars but at $300 a night, the least they could do is present a clean well stocked room, serviced daily. I avoided the restaurant as pricing was unreasonable. Do not stay here as the poor staff are putting people into rooms that should be out of commission.
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
While the buildings are a bit tired the rooms are super-comfortable with new carpeting, cosy beds, great water pressure and very lovely rooms. Service was excellent and friendly. Be sure to get the buffet breakfast for a great start to your day. Rooms were quiet too. The Bar area is comfortable and clean although the decor is a bit 90s - did not affect our ability to have a lovely drink and dinner one iota.
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Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 20 Nov 2023
Thank you for your kind words. The whole foyer and bar area is due for an upgrade next year and we are looking forward to the work being done.
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We attended an awards evening for a national championship event at the distinction hotel conference rooms. The service was appalling. There was no one overseeing the event. We ran out of water at our table after everyone filled their glasses and returned the jug ourselves for a refill but it never came. The buffet table ran out of food, particularly the meats and there was a long wait for it to be replenished. There was no one clearing away plates or empty bottles from the tables. The organisers of the function had to do it themselves until the hotel manager could finally be found. Then the dessert table ran out of food half way through as well. I would certainly never book a function here after this experience! Terrible service and very embarrassing for the hosts.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 15 Apr 2024
Thank you for your comments. The matter was dealt with yesterday, with the Organiser and the relevant departments have been dealt with.
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The hotel is on the outskirts of hamilton centre and is accessed by bus, taxi or if you have a hire car. The hotel is sited over a large area with different blocks housing the rooms. The rooms themselves cater for your needs, safe, coffee making facilities aircon and fridge. The rooms need modernising but were still cleaned to a high standard. There is a small gym, restaurant and a bar within the main complex. Staff were brilliant, friendly and helpful. Overall not a bad stay just the location msy cause issues for others
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Date of stay: January 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:10 minute drive outside of Hamilton centre.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 7 Feb 2024
Thank you for your kind words.
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The hotel was v busy as it is a conference centre. It is not the place to go if you are on holiday as it is well away, not walking distance, from the town. Main attraction was a very pleasant open lounge area where you could also dine- as well as the restaurant where breakfast was served. Food was really good and average priced. Staff were young in the bar and restaurant but gave excellent, pleasant service with a smile even though they were clearly busy. We had been allocated a 3rd floor room with no lift (and poorly husband), so asked for a swap. The Duty Manager ( Mike Smythe) went out of his way to sort it for us and got us a ground floor room very quickly, even helping with the cases. He was really helpful throughout our stay. Breakfast good and room large and comfy. Would stay again. The convenience of the meals and bar, reasonably priced was a bonus.
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Date of stay: November 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:No lift, so bear that in mind, carrying suitcases up several flights of stairs is hard going.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 19 Dec 2024
Thank you very much for your kind words and we trust that you have a wonderful Festive season.
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We stayed for one night. The staff was very friendly. The room was recently refurbished and was very quiet as the hotel is located off the main road. So we had a good quality of sleep. The hotel is 5km away from the CBD and no eateries are nearby. It was not a matter for us as we had a car. We tried their buffet breakfast, Decent choices and food was fresh. I noticed many families with kids staying at this hotel. It is a good choice for family holiday.
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Date of stay: June 2022
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:Family holiday, quiet location
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Carla Denmead, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 3 Jul 2022
Thanks very much
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We stayed 1 night while passing through Hamilton. We stayed in the 100 wing which I presume must be one of the older wings, yes it is dated but clean, comfortable and roomy, nice and quiet at night.
The highlight for our family was the buffet breakfast, (which started at 6.30 on the Saturday we were there) the dining area is dated as well but huge. The buffet had so much food to choose from, something for everyone. Kids loved the pancake machine and array of toppings.
Probably wouldn’t stay more than 1 night but just what we needed while travelling through
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Date of stay: September 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Pack a light overnight bag that’s easy to carry up the stairs, you may have to park far from your...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Colin Maclaurin, General Manager at Distinction Hamilton Hotel & Conference Centre
Responded 24 Sept 2023
Thank you for your kind words.
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Yes you can eat in Garnett's Restaurant, if you aren't staying in the Hotel. It is open to the public. Unfortunately, I cannot remember how much the breakfast is, sorry.
There are more places to choose from in the Hamilton area.
PRICE RANGE
$213 - $240 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Kingsgate Hotel Hamilton
LOCATION
New ZealandNorth IslandWaikato RegionHamilton
NUMBER OF ROOMS
147
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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