What
A luxurious stay at Intercontinental, Wellington

Where
2 Grey Street
Wellington
6011
New Zealand

The Experience
“I don’t remember the last time I was this tired”, I muttered to Kayla as we walked down the coast of Kiakoura on the South Island of New Zealand. We were on the way to the Dolphin Encounter center to put on our wet suits and be transported by boat to the middle of the ocean where we would be spending the morning swimming with 800 dolphins. Later that day we travelled to Wellington, where we spent the last night of the 21 day adventure tour saying our goodbyes over lots of drinks and shots.

Waking up the next day with not only a stinking hangover, but a dark cloud over my head because the best 21 days I have ever experienced had ended, was exceptionally hard. But not all was lost, because I was about to check in to one of my favourite hotels in the world – the Intercontinental in Wellington.

As I stumbled into the lobby with a large backpack on my back, another on my front and a wheelie case in one hand, I breathed a sigh of relief and made my way to check in. After politely declining the offer from three people to help me with my bags (I have to get used to it), I was up and away in the lift to my deluxe king room.

After opening the door and stumbling into my room for the night; a sweaty mess, bags falling off my shoulder, sweat dripping down my back; I threw my bags on the sofa and paced the room, up and down, not knowing where to begin. Having been used to the top bunk of creaky bunk beds for the last three weeks, the sight of the ginormous marshmallow like king sized bed was enough to make me go weak at the knees. It took a while to stop feeling like a lost puppy, but as soon as I did I found myself taking a running leap from one side of the room to the bed. I jumped as high as I could and squealed as I landed on the softest bed linen I had felt in a long time.

The next half an hour was spent playing with all of the gadgets in my room. I opened and closed the electric curtains about three times, turned the TV on and browsed every menu possible; I took all my clothes off and ran to the huge drench shower, emptied all of the complimentary lotions and potions and dressed up in the gown and slippers. I was in heaven.

As a Club Member of Intercontinental, I had access to the Club Lounge, which I duly visited. The lounge, situated on the seventh floor, is equipped with an office with mac desktops, tables, sofas, a fire, complimentary refreshments and wait for it… afternoon tea between 2-4pm and canapes between 5-7pm. I couldn’t resist a play on the computers and a bite of afternoon tea with freshly squeezed orange juice. As I was typing away, I remembered that somewhere in the building was an indoor heated pool, gym, sauna and hot tub; so off I toddled to put on my bikini and went in search. After a quick splash I was ready to chill in my room before dinner.

Dinner for the evening was at the Chameleon restaurant on the ground floor next to the lobby area. Despite being a quite night in the restaurant, Jazmin and I rocked up and grabbed a table to enjoy our three course feast with matching New Zealand wines. The concept of the restaurant is simple – guests can choose an individual dish for $26, two courses for $50, three for $70, or four for $80. There is also an option for matching wines, which come in a 100ml pour.

We chose three courses, one from each of the sections – ‘Tastes from the farm’, ‘Seafood tastes’ and ‘Vegetable tastes’. My favourite dish was venison loin, which was served with pommes de terre macaire, truffled leek, caramelised apple & cranberry, which was matched with a delicious Central Otago Pinot Noir.

24 hours later, I’m sat here about to depart for my next adventure. I couldn’t have wished for a better way to end my adventure tour in Wellington and I look forward to my next Intercontinental adventure.

Cost
King Deluxe Guest Rooms start from $350 per night and King Club InterContinental Guest Rooms begin from $450 per night.