It wasn't the biggest hotel room we've stayed in. But it was so perfectly designed for two people that all other rooms will be judged to this standard from now on. In fact, it's a far, far better design than the suites and mini-suites we've stayed in and whoever designed it should get an award. Our one bedroom at The Quest in Whangarei was small but perfectly formed. It was my birthday and I'm not all that keen on celebrating anything that doesn't end in a five or a zero. So I decided to treat myself, my wife, an old family friend and three family members to dinner, drinks and an evening enjoying the music of the musical duo our youngest daughter has been performing in for the past couple of years. She regularly does gigs, sometimes as a backup singer, sometimes solo and sometimes in groups. This time she and her singing partner named themselves the Wood Pigeons (hopefully they'll come up with a better name). Two guitars, two singers. What some call "folk rock" or "soft rock." Her partner, a male. is an amazing guitarist and the group that came on after their performance came early so they could enjoy them. It's always a good sign when colleagues applaud and support. One of the reasons we chose the hotel is that it is within easy walking distance of The Butter Factory. Another is that we wanted to try...It wasn't the biggest hotel room we've stayed in. But it was so perfectly designed for two people that all other rooms will be judged to this standard from now on. In fact, it's a far, far better design than the suites and mini-suites we've stayed in and whoever designed it should get an award.

Our one bedroom at The Quest in Whangarei was small but perfectly formed.

It was my birthday and I'm not all that keen on celebrating anything that doesn't end in a five or a zero. So I decided to treat myself, my wife, an old family friend and three family members to dinner, drinks and an evening enjoying the music of the musical duo our youngest daughter has been performing in for the past couple of years. She regularly does gigs, sometimes as a backup singer, sometimes solo and sometimes in groups. This time she and her singing partner named themselves the Wood Pigeons (hopefully they'll come up with a better name). Two guitars, two singers. What some call "folk rock" or "soft rock." Her partner, a male. is an amazing guitarist and the group that came on after their performance came early so they could enjoy them. It's always a good sign when colleagues applaud and support.

One of the reasons we chose the hotel is that it is within easy walking distance of The Butter Factory. Another is that we wanted to try it out.

First impressions are important and the front desk was manned and womanned by some very welcoming and competent people who gave us a great first impression. Parking is underneath the hotel and accessed by a card activated gate that raises to allow entry into the parking area. We were offered help with our luggage but decided that we could easily handle our two overnight bags ourselves. The elevator (or as it's called in NZ, a lift) was also card activate and took us directly to our floor.

It is not a big and dare I say, impersonal, hotel. It would probably be considered a boutique hotel - although the term usually indicates to me something quirky and not quite up to hotel standard. Their online promotional description is "serviced apartments." The hallway was not that wide and we exchanged a friendly hello to a couple coming the other way.

To be perfectly honest, we didn't know what to expect and what we discovered upon opening the door and wheeling in our cases was a wonderful surprise! Normally we have a quick look around a new room and finding most of them pretty much the same we start unpacking. This time we inspected the room slowly, marveling at the thoughtful way it had been designed for the occupants. Genius!

Unlike another place we stayed up in Kerikeri, NZ, where two people couldn't move around the room at the same time, we both felt perfectly at home from the moment we stepped over the threshold. Somehow they'd managed to fit in a kitchen, dishwasher, clothes washer, drier, king bed, comfortable sitting area, small dining table and chairs, desk, sofa and a comfortable bathroom that felt more spacious than it was due to the design. I wish our en-suite at home was so well designed.More