SO/ Auckland

SO/ Auckland opened in late November 2018 inside the former Reserve Bank of New Zealand building on Customs Street East. It was the first SO/ in the Pacific for Accor's lifestyle brand. The 130-room hotel was conceived with the New Zealand fashion label WORLD, and the building's past as the country's gold vault runs through its interiors, restaurant, rooftop bar and spa.

The place

The address is 67 Customs Street East, in Auckland's central business district, between Britomart and Viaduct Harbour. Queen's Wharf and the ferry terminal for Waiheke Island are a short walk away. The Auckland Art Gallery and the Sky Tower are 10 to 15 minutes on foot.

The concept

The former Reserve Bank of New Zealand building held the country's gold reserves and had never been a hotel before Accor converted it. WORLD, the New Zealand fashion label, acted as design partner. An emblem drawn from Auckland's volcanic geology and the bank's history recurs on staff uniforms, wallpaper, in-room artwork and neon installations, and the rooms carry gold accents as a reference to the vault.

The lobby is dominated by a large Marcel Wanders chandelier, the Mega Chandelier, set against dark glossy surfaces. Rooms are grouped into Vapour, Liquid and Solid categories, across SO Cozy, Comfy, Club and Studio rooms, with a floor of Penthouse Suites. A review of a King Comfy room describes an open-plan layout with floor-to-ceiling city windows, dark natural materials with purple and pink accents, and a vanity and bathtub open to the room, beside an enclosed toilet and a separate rain shower. Bath products come from the local brand Maraca, and the room has a Nespresso machine and a 49-inch television. The minibar-style snacks are local: L&P soft drink and Whittaker's chocolate.

The hotel limits waste with refillable bathroom amenities, a bamboo dental set, and a compostable shower cap and razor.

Dining & wellness

Harbour Society occupies the 15th floor. It opened under French chef Marc De Passorio, and a later review names Roy Giam as executive chef. The menu is contemporary European with Asian influences, cooked in an open kitchen. Wines by the glass are poured through Coravin, with an emphasis on New Zealand producers, and a glass-walled private dining room has wine bottles suspended around it. Breakfast is a buffet.

HI-SO, the rooftop bar, has DJs from Thursday to Saturday, 5pm to midnight. MIXO Bar sits in the lobby lounge and Javalab Cafe serves coffee.

The spa is in the basement, with a 20-metre lap pool, a Jacuzzi and a Finnish sauna. Treatments run from 30 to 180 minutes, and the gym is open around the clock. Sources disagree on whether the former gold vault now holds the spa or the gym.