The Esplanade has a great location on the Devonport waterfront with sweeping city views. The rooms are comfortable and well appointed. With two bedrooms and a big lounge and full kitchen the penthouse suite is excellent for families. The ferries to downtown Auckland leave from across the road so while it is out of the hustle and bustle of the city it is convenient and expiring Devonport is fun.
The worst feature is the breakfasts. Poaching an egg was about the limit of the "chef's" ability. Ask for a discount and forgo the hotel breakfast for one of the pleasant cafes nearby. Another minor irritant was toilet seats that didn't stay up making life difficult for men!

Esplanade has a great location to offer and this is it. The staff is friendly but helpless, the Victorian atmosphere is synonymous with austerity, uncomfort and need of refurbishment. The breakfast is nice provided you have patience towait and tolerance for having your order mixed up... Overall, could do much better or much cheaper.

We were visiting Auckland and some friends took us to this restaurant/hotel on the seafront in Devonport for dinner.

The meal was good, but the venue was excellent. The new owners have created, or re-created, a lovely environment redolent of the best of Victorian New Zealand.

We only saw the downstairs, which consists of a bar and several interesting niches where you can eat from the small, but good, menu.

The wine and beer selection pleased all four diners - good beer for the men, wine for the women.

Service excellent in the friendly New Zealand style.

Overall a place to recommend highly, and a great escape from the rush of Auckland city.

We stayed for just one romantic night wihout the kids, at the end of a business trip.
Whilst the room was clean and very comfortable, the hotel is showing everybit of its age. We dined in the restaurant which was a great disappointment. It didn't take long to work out why the place was almost empty.

The Esplanade probably suits those keen to remember a bye-gone era. It has loads of character, and a certain arrogance about it which probably is appropriate for its time.

It just didn't really suit us. I've stayed in much nicer places with much nicer restaurants, which only cost half as much. If nothing else, at least now I appreciate my usual stops a little bit more.