Known as Auckland‘s ultimate luxury hotel, The Langham emits the grace and charm of a European grand hotel, the only establishment of its kind in New Zealand. The hotel has also taken a lead locally regarding social responsibility and sustainability, reason enough for us to follow the hotel’s invitation and spend a night at this unique place in the City of Sails.
A night at The Langham in Auckland, New Zealand
Luxury hotel, of course means dark limousines, porters, heavy doors and – in the case of The Langham – a grand entrance hall. Having stayed at the equally sustainability-minded but much more budget-focused City Lodge the nights before, all this takes a while to get used to.
The club room, king deluxe, is just as we had imagined, with heavy furniture, writing material in pink and gold colors. One floor higher, the club lounge is where we enjoy our afternoon tea, evening drinks, and morning breakfast. Not as outstanding as the club lounge at PARKROYAL on Pickering in Singapore, for example, though very relaxed and as such most welcome.
On level one we find the renown Restaurant Eight with its eight interactive kitchens, popular with both guests and locals who like to come here for a decent breakfast, brunch or dinner. As we wander around, we get a glimpse of spacious meeting and banqueting facilities, including ‘The Great Room’, one of the largest pillar-less ballrooms in Auckland.
Later we put on our bath robes and take the lift down to level two where, hidden behind a long corridor, awaits Chuan Spa. It is dark and light rain falls as we get into the heated open air swimming pool, illuminated by gloomy light and changing colors. Hot water whirl pool is next, which we have almost to ourselves with few other guests around.
Social responsibility and sustainability at The Langham
Green is the new luxury, and as much as with its glamour The Langham invites us to forget about it all, learning about the hotel’s sustainability credentials is of course part of the reviewing mission.
The hotel website promises a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility, mostly in the form of ongoing support of Garden to Table and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) New Zealand.
However, the hotel also excels in environmental best practice and sustainability, as demonstrated by its EarthCheck 2014 Gold certification and Qualmark Enviro Gold rating. Not bad at all for a hotel built in the 70s, thus not able to benefit from latest development in energy-efficient building design.
We leave The Langham with the impression that thanks to initiatives like LED lighting in public areas, energy and water saving measures, and the hotel’s strong support of local charities and schools, environmentally and socially conscious, discerning city travelers will find this hotel a rewarding place to stay when visiting Auckland.
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