StaceyL85

Hi guys

Myself and my boyfriend are moving to Auckland at the end of the month.

My boyfriend has a job offer and so we are moving to Auckland on June 26th. We are currently looking at places to rent in the city I thought we would post in the forum to seek advise to the good areas and potential areas to avoid to rent?

We are both going to be working downtown so anywhere recommendations in or around the city would be much appreciated ?

Thanks so much.

Stacey

Genesis

Hi, Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me is the place to look for property to rent. Go to the real estate page and you will find rentals and all the areas. No idea where is good or bad. All I do know is that the housing market is on fire in Auckland right now (16% rises in the last year!!). So just be aware rent may be on the up. Good luck. It is a good country to spend some time in (been here 10 years now).

escapedtonz

If you are coming over because of a job offer, has your partner not negotiated some sort of relocation package, even if it's just helping you out with accommodation for first arrival ?
Considering you are moving many thousands of KM's to take up a job the employer should have some responsibility to make sure you find your feet quickly on arrival.

If not you should ask.

If it's just the two of you, a motel is the best for a couple of weeks if the new employer won't help. Can be cheaper than renting a short term property and they have excellent facilities, fully furnished with own bathroom and kitchenette, dining area, lounge and bedroom/'s, parking space and depending on the motel chosen some have pools, gyms and offer meals. You should getter a cheaper rate if you stay for a couple of weeks which will give you time to explore and make a decision where you need to be and to find something else.
It's very difficult finding securing from overseas not knowing anything about anything. Everyone advertises their properties on TradeMe but you won't be able to find out contact details as you need to be registered on the site and unless you are in NZ or Oz you cannot register.

Hazelnut

To reassure you the motels in NZ really aren't like the ones I've encountered in the USA and UK. They are higher quality than the bedsit I rented whilst a student and better than most one bed flats in London.

Snap Shot

A motel is a motel is a motel. All fairly soul less, but clean and convenient.

Catchafire

Airbnb! Better than a motel and maybe more convenient in terms of location.

Regarding renting, the biggest challenge with be getting to and from work. Have alook at areas near your work!

A Rush And A Push

If you're both working in the city centre I'd advise being as close to work as possible. Traffic in Auckland can be horrible. So either an apartment in the CBD (close to everything but obviously no outdoor space/greenery and could be noisy) or an apartment or house share in one of the city fringe suburbs if your budget is suitable for that.

City fringe suburbs are all nice areas, obviously close to CBD and have their own cafés, bars etc so a bit of social life close by. Suburbs like Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Freemans Bay, Mt Eden, Parnell etc. They are quite expensive places in which to rent but if you are youngish with no kids (as I'm assuming you are) that's where I'd go (in fact, that's where I did live when I was young with no kids)

Hazelnut

The majority of motels I've stayed in within the UK have been less than clean, many had black mould growing in the shower and round the windows, tattered curtains and were being used by 'ladies of the night' for, in the UK, what is an illegal purpose so were definitely on the sleazy side.

NZ motels, by comparison, were a real breath of fresh air and pleasant surprise when we visited.

There's some videos on YouTube that show the new type of one bed flat being developed in Auckland. Someone posted a link to them a while ago. It's not something I'd want to live in at my age with two cats and a dotty mindset but I'd definitely have lived in them for a while to find my feet when younger.

Bo-Jangles

Your rose-tinted view of NZ knows no bounds, by your definition every hotel along Park Lane would be on the sleazy side. You can choose from a wide array of perfectly clean comfortable low cost places like Premier Inn -


Try finding the equivalent in NZ, where the cheapest most shabby places still want anything upwards from a hundred and fifty bucks a night


Your more likely to find the Bates standard of motel in NZ with authentic 1970s décor and furniture being the order of day.

BEVS

You are now definitely pulling our legs Hazelnut .

TommyLuck

Once upon a time I stayed in motel in Blenheim.

Once we'd checked in and got the luggage out of the car I settled down and flicked the TV on whilst waiting for others to get ready for dinner.

I glanced to the arm of the chair and some toe and/or finger nails were neatly piled there.

Perhaps they were complimentary ... ?

Tom H

Sounds very similar to the motel we stayed at in Lake Tekapo on the way down to Queenstown for a holiday


Although ours was more fag butts nearly placed - despite it being apparently a no smoking motel


I had to ring the authorities and say 'WOW that was really good customer service'. You don't get that anywhere at your cheap tacky useless Travelodges.

BEVS

OMG.

Karma for making me giggle.

Last time we stayed in what is left of Christchurch, I opened the wardrobe to hang up our clothes and found an entire set of some bloke's grubby work clothes in there. He must have left in his jimjams.

Stormer999

Visitors to Chch are welcomed to help with the City rebuild so it is normal for Hoteliers to provide a complimentary set of work overalls for guests to use.....



Honest...

Snap Shot

I've never had such delights as Tommy or Bevs. Motels by their nature are for a life in transition.

Which, to me, can make them seem sad.

I remember the motel we stayed in for 2 nights in Christchurch in June 2011. Nothing wrong with it, just the usual bog standard awful.

We were leaving Christchurch and had vacated the rental with a couple of days spare so we could let the carpet cleaning company etc come and do their work.

I just remember willing each minute of the 48 hours away before we could catch our flight out of Christchurch. We had takeaway food on both nights as it wasn't worth buying/cooking ingredients for just a couple of days. Nothing wrong with that, it just added to the heart sink feeling.

However, the motel we stayed in on our first 2 nights in Wanganui was good and clean and bog standard.

The motel we stayed in earlier this year on holiday in Northland was good and clean and bog standard. I mean if white painted breeze blocks are your idea of interior décor you would be in hog heaven. Not forgetting the well kept but nevertheless chained up barking Rottweiler in the adjacent property.

Have also stayed in a couple of motels in Auckland on occasion. Again, nothing more than, 'as expected'.