Name: Shepherds Arms Hotel
Address: 285 Tinakori Road, Wellington, Wellington, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Heating

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Family room

Cable TV

Hairdryer

Shower

Linens

Alarm clock

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Ironing

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Telephone

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Diet menu (on request)

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

English

Languages Spoken

Free parking

Parking nearby

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Fax and copy machine

Business

Doctor

First Aid Kit

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Extra decontamination measures

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Wellington International Airport

Paraparaumu Airport

Shepherds Arms Hotel

Wellington

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

On previous visits we've found Thorndon Village a lively, buzzing place and we were disappointed to find it quiet and with many shops closed. Perhaps this is a relic of the pandemic or caused by the current cost-of-living crisis. The hotel, too, was virtually empty at 1-20 pm but the service was friendly and welcoming and our meals - butter chicken pies - were scrumptious. No doubt the hotel is lively after working hours! We'd certainly recommend it.

Lovely food and good service

The hotel is definitely not boutique perhaps once upon a time it was but not today. 
Old tired smells and not worth the money paid.  Not even given a small milk to go with the coffee station. 
Hotel in the name is misleading no service to speak of more a motel. 
Very hot in the room but had a fan so that ran all day. 
Checked in and never saw anyone again. 
A shame really it must have been lovely in its day but she looks and feels neglected today.

Not Boutique at all

The good bit:

Reception and housekeeping were friendly and housekeeping was done to a clean standard, with toiletries provided. Location very convenient to Thorndon, Botanical Gardens and western suburbs. Onsite parking.

The bad bits:

1. TL;DR charged for 3 rooms instead of the 2 used due to an error at check in. Manager is refusing to reimburse us for unused room. Seriously doubt they would have sold the vacant room later than our 7pm check in.

We booked two twin rooms for our group. On being checked into just one room at reception (lovely friendly receptionist) I checked my booking.com email and then queried reception, showing them my email. Both bookings were listed in my booking.com email and neither of us noticed that the second room was booked under the name of my partner. The receptionist therefore didn't realise that the other room our party had booked was ours. Honest mistake on both parts. She said there were no twin rooms free and offered us a slightly more expensive queen room with ensuite (which I agreed to and paid for on the spot).

Later we discovered that the hotel had set aside a second twin room (in my partner's name). Booking.com had charged the hotel the booking fee and later the hotel charged the room to our credit card.

I phoned to sort this out (left a voice mail, got no response). I followed up by email when we got back from travel and asked to be refunded for our unused room (which was cheaper than the room we ended up paying for).

The response was rude. The manager said the refund couldn't be made because a non-refundable booking fee had been paid to booking.com. I said I was happy to cover the fee and otherwise be reimbursed either for the room we didn't use or the room we didn't book. Roughly 2 weeks later, still no response. We were open to solving this without loss to the hotel. (Again, it is highly doubtful at 7pm that they would have sold the empty room if available to anyone else). Manager refuses to engage and I now see that the hotel is currently not taking bookings through booking.com.

2. The rooms were clean but in need of repair. We booked cheap and you get what you pay for. But having moved to a slightly more expensive Queen room with spa tub, we wouldn't have wanted to use the that feature (spa tub) because of rotten wood surrounds. Also, we couldn't sit in the chair because it was at risk of collapse.

Friendly staff, cheap and cheerful but management refuses to refund an over-charge.

What a beautiful place, quiet in our room, full on bar and restaurant below, amazing meals and great service.
Room was pristine, beds were comfortable and off street parking is a God Send.
We will be back, cheers everyone at the Arms for giving us a great 2 nights in Welly.

Smack Bang in the Middle!

Staff were friendly and the beds were fine. We couldn't use our ensuite bathroom because the sliding door was so broken you could barely get in and out. Also had no ventilation. Thankfully there was a seperate shower and toilet down the hall, but that shower didn't drain. There were no hand drying facilities in the toilet.
Wouldn't stay here again.

Wouldn't stay again

Great place. The boss made us feel extremely welcome. Nothing was too much trouble. Relaxed friendly atmosphere. Perfect room. Affordable,  well positioned. We ate there after coming back hungry from the races. Lovely food. Awesome staff. Perfect!

Bloody Awesome

Large friendly bar/restaurant area. Not a large menu but it covers most needs. Our beer drinker friend said that the selection of ales was goodStaff are efficient enough and helpful.  Would  certainly go back again. .

Good standard pub

Beware of dangerous owner, stay elsewhere! We (3 adults) had booked 3 rooms but only got 2 rooms at check-in. During our 6wk round-the-world trip we had alternated between 2BR and 3BR´s, but always with 3 separate beds. These only had 2 beds so we told them there was a mistake. Instead of realizing we had a booking of 3 rooms (they only got 8 rooms) they spent 30min to get us another 2nd room with 2 beds. We were very busy so we just dropped our luggage and left for town. Upon return early evening we double checked our booking and realized the real mistake. We were too tired to move again so we hoped for a compromise/some refund. Staff called the owner and now it got really scary. I tried to explain what happened but he kept interrupting calling me several times a f..ing idiot and that he would come over to "take care of me" - in a way that scared us all night, a real nightmare!! From the short conversation (he called me again a f..idiot and hung up) with him I could not rule out any scenarios but it was too late to move into another hotel. We could barely sleep and left early morning, just happy we didn´t get attacked or our car damaged over night. We met many wonderful people in NZ, this was just a very bad and primitive apple!!! Don´t take a risk, stay elsewhere!

Beware of dangerous owner, stay elsewhere!

I would recommend looking at your bank transactions after eating here as they are siphoning money from transactions.  Be careful eating here. Theives  have realized they have done this multiple times.

Theives

I moved to Thorndon a few months ago and decided to try out this pub. They were once a Speights Ale House. They no longer hold that title, but still have Speights products on tap. The staff are always friendly, the beer fresh, and the food tasty. But the five stars come from their amazing cheese and bacon wedges. Wedges have been my go-to bar snack for years, but this pub's version is the best I have ever tasted. Hot, crispy and full of flavour. They are amazing.
I've tried about half the menu, either on my own or with friends, and it is always superior pub fare. But the wedges are out of this world and not to be missed.


Shepherds Arms Hotel

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