The Smart Choice:
Centra Auckland Airport Hotel
A new look room at Centra Auckland Airport Hotel
With companies tightening their budget belts and thinking of ways to work smarter and save costs, hotels with airport locations are becoming an ever-more attractive proposition. They offer less travel time and, more importantly, less travel cost than traipsing in and out to the CBD.
The Paper Plus retail brand recently held a conference at the Centra for its entire group. The subject was mitigating the effects of the economic downturn so taking consideration of attendees’ finances even before and after the conference was of utmost importance.
‘With delegates coming from all over New Zealand, the Centra Auckland Airport Hotel has plenty of parking for those driving,’ explains Paper Plus executive assistant, Raewyn Llewelyn. ‘With the shuttles from the airport, our attendees didn’t have to spend $50 or $60 on a taxi fare before they even got to the conference venue.’
Location
Handily located close to Auckland’s International and Domestic Airports, the Centra is also a great place to overnight either before early morning or after late night flights.
‘Convenience isn’t the only reason to book your next travel stop at this iconic airport hotel,’ says Geoff Haigh, Centra Auckland Airport Hotel general manager. ‘We’ve just finished a multi-million dollar refurbishment that includes new-look accommodation rooms, restaurant, bar, lobby, business centre, ballroom and conference rooms to make us the smart conference choice.’
A technology leader
‘When dealing with overseas clients on video conferencing, the last thing you should have to worry about is the quality of the equipment you’re using,’ Haigh says. ‘We’ve alleviated this fear by recently installing the quickest technology capability of any Auckland hotel. Following an extensive technology upgrade, high definition video conferencing is now available with broadband in all conference rooms.
‘The cabling is the best you can get in the country, we have a 10 GB pipeline and its speed and performance is only limited by the size of New Zealand’s gateway. Countries such as Germany, Sweden and the United States have much larger gateways and are much further ahead with this technology.”
Haigh says the Centra’s technology is future proofed as each accommodation room has cables installed ready and waiting for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) capability to be introduced to New Zealand.
‘Again this will be of great interest to corporates who want to have video conferencing calls in the privacy of their own rooms.’
Each conference different
The Alcohol Advisory Council ran the Pacific Spirit conference at the Centra for about 300 people last year - they had expected 180. ‘Staff were really flexible accommodating the extra numbers and ran with the changes on the day to help us keep our own stress levels down,’ says Metua Faasisila, Pacific programmes manager for the Council.
‘We had an unusual and special conference that involved a lot of local young talent,’ explains Faasisila. ‘From a couch session with two psychiatrists, to a drama presentation at the other end of the same room, staff were fantastic at adapting the furniture and creating the right atmosphere to create the community spirit we desired. It truly was a ‘conference with a difference’ and the Centra team couldn’t have been more adaptable to our needs.’
Maximum space, minimum noise
Set amongst 10-acres of tranquil gardens, out of flight paths and away from road noise, the Centra is Auckland’s largest and quietest airport hotel.
The Centra’s setting is designed to minimise noise and maximise space with plenty of natural light. Its décor is clean, crisp and recently refurbished and has been compared to five star properties in Australia on many separate occasions. ‘You’ll notice the quality. And travel planners can rest assured that the person you’re sending to us will be aesthetically pleased,’ Haigh says.
