Fable Auckland, MGallery

Fable Auckland, MGallery reopened on 17 December 2021 inside Windsor House, a building completed in 1928 at 58-60 Queen Street in Auckland's CBD. It had been trading as Hotel Grand Windsor, MGallery by Sofitel, before Fable Hotels & Resorts took over the operation. The 79 rooms and suites stay inside Accor's MGallery Collection.

The place

The address is 58-60 Queen Street, on Auckland's main commercial street, with Fort Lane running along the side of the building. The hotel's own pages point to the Sky Tower, the Viaduct Harbour waterfront and its restaurants, and the Hauraki Gulf beyond as the neighbourhood.

Parking is by valet, for a fee.

The concept

Windsor House was designed in 1926 by the Auckland architect A. Sinclair O'Connor and built in 1927-1928 by Fawcett Ltd, in two stages so that the tenant could keep trading. That tenant was W.R. Cooke and Son, a restaurant and soda fountain firm, which wanted tea rooms and a grill room below and offices above. The design is restrained classical, with a tall central section marked by pilasters and Union Jack motifs at first-floor level. Heritage New Zealand listed it as a Category 2 historic place in September 1987.

Cooke's sold the building to AMP in 1946. Pan American Airways and an ANZ branch later occupied the ground floor, and the upper floors became a hotel in 2000. A refit into a five-star hotel is dated 2016 or 2017 depending on the source. The December 2021 change was a switch of brand and operator rather than a construction project: the MGallery affiliation carried over, and Fable took over daily running and identity.

Rooms start with the Classic Queen and King at about 19 square metres, then the Superior rooms at about 27 and the Luxury Room at 31, with a seating area and a California king bed. Above them sit the Junior Suite, with a separate lounge and desk, the Duchess Suite at about 41 square metres, and the Windsor Suite at about 51, with two bedrooms and a lounge opening onto a balcony. Three rooms are accessible. Art Deco touches run through the rooms and the dining room.

A fitness centre on level 6 is open around the clock with a room key, and a private hot tub and sauna can be reserved between 8:00 and 21:30. The hotel holds a Qualmark Gold sustainability rating.

Dining & wellness

The restaurant keeps the Cooke's name, a reference to the 1920s tenant and its tea rooms. The hotel's pages also describe the Windsor Room, an Art Deco dining room on Queen Street inspired by English chophouses, serving European dishes built on local, free-range and organic produce; the same pages use both names for the dining room.

Breakfast runs from 6:30 to 10:30 on weekdays and until 11:00 at weekends. Room service is available 24 hours, and the restaurant and bar can be booked in part or in full for groups of up to 100.