1 Courthouse Lane,
Auckland Central
Auckland,


(09) 300 8800

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3 out of 5

As a rule I’m fond of hotel bars and lobbies. They’re usually big on comfort, and, unlike a great many non-hotel bars, they generally have staff who can knock up a damn good cocktail. They’re trained. They know what they are doing. They don’t need to look up a book.

I didn’t try the cocktails here, but the first condition held true. There were so many fat sofas and chairs at Atlantis the room almost looked like a furniture showroom. Lovely well-padded, richly textured or soft leather things they were.

The colour scheme was very hotel du jour with lashings of chocolate and cream. Entering here from a cold blustery summer’s day was as comforting as entering your mother’s kitchen. Atlantis seemed to exude warmth and absorb sound.

I sunk my frozen weary bones happily into one of their big armchairs so that I completely I was in danger of disappearing altogether.

But I needed a drink. No surprises on the wine and spirit list and the service was swift but unobtrusive (as you would expect from a hotel). I quite like that anonymous efficiency.

Perhaps the only jarring note amongst all this discreet luxury was the huge television screen permanently on sport. Fortunately, the sound was off.

Maybe it was the faux fire, the high ceilings, the long drop curtains, the mellow leather or perhaps the cold outside—but I decided Atlantis in the Ascot Metropolis would be the perfect place to hunker down with a glass of port or a liqueur on a cold winter’s night.