Where to stay in Auckland: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

The Viaduct is Auckland showing off, and fairly so. Once a working basin for fishing boats, it was rebuilt for the America's Cup and now holds a marina full of serious yachts, ringed by restaurants and bars with tables on the water's edge. Walk west over the footbridge and you are in Wynyard Quarter, a former industrial dock turned promenade, with more places to eat and room for children to run.

This is where the city's smartest hotels have gathered. Rooms come with floor-to-ceiling windows, Juliet balconies over the water and, in a couple of cases, a spa and an outdoor pool. The Sky Tower and Queen Street are around fifteen minutes' walk, and the ferry terminal is closer still. It is not cheap, and summer evenings are lively, but for a short stay it is hard to resist.

Britomart is the bit of downtown Auckland that got everything right. A few blocks of nineteenth-century warehouses beside the harbour have been restored and threaded with laneways, and filled with designer boutiques, good restaurants and bars that spill onto the pavement. The main train station is underneath, the ferry terminal is across the road, and the newer shops of Commercial Bay are next door.

Hotels here range from a striking building of hand-made brick with timber-lined rooms to waterfront five-stars with sundecks and harbour views from Quay Street and Princes Wharf. It is the most convenient base in the city: you can catch a boat to Waiheke or Devonport before breakfast and be back in time for dinner on the wharf.

Queen Street climbs straight uphill from the harbour and the city centre spreads out on either side: the Sky Tower and its casino complex to the west, High Street's boutiques and the green slope of Albert Park to the east, and the theatres of the Aotea quarter further up. It is busier and less pretty than the waterfront, but it is central to everything.

The choice of hotels is the biggest in Auckland, and prices are usually kinder than on the water. There are polished five-stars a few steps from the tower, apartment hotels with kitchens, and one or two with real charm, including an Art Deco boutique off High Street with individually decorated rooms. Pick the lower end of town if you want a flat walk to the ferries.

Auckland's inner suburbs sit on the ridges either side of the centre, and each has its own main street. Ponsonby, to the west, is the fashionable one: a long road of restaurants, bars, galleries and vintage shops, backed by streets of wooden villas. Places to stay are small and personal, such as a ten-room hotel in an old manor that serves breakfast in bed, or an art-filled bed and breakfast in a renovated villa two minutes from the strip.

Parnell, to the east, is older and more genteel, with a village feel and a larger hotel set in its own grounds. Next door, Newmarket is the city's shopping district, with practical, good-value hotels and free parking. All three are a short taxi or bus ride from the harbour, and all are a better bet than downtown if you have a car.

Waiheke is Auckland's favourite escape, about 40 minutes by ferry from downtown and a different country in mood. The island is a tumble of green hills, vineyards and olive groves edged with sandy bays. Oneroa, near the ferry, is the main village, with cafés, galleries and a beach below; Onetangi, on the north coast, is the longest and best-loved stretch of sand.

Stay here for a night or three and the island empties of day-trippers by evening. Options include beachfront apartments right on Onetangi, an inn with rooms above one of the island's best-known restaurants in Oneroa, and a waterfront bed and breakfast with a hot tub. Couples will love it. Anyone needing a kids' club or a late bar should stay on the mainland and visit for the day.

Auckland Airport is around 20 kilometres south of the centre, and after a 24-hour journey from the UK a bed nearby has real appeal. One hotel stands about a hundred metres from the international terminal; another, newer one has a top-floor restaurant with runway views. A few minutes further out, family-friendly hotels offer airport shuttles and free parking.

It makes sense for a late arrival, an early departure or the night before you collect a hire car and head south. There is nothing to see on foot, so move into town if you are staying longer than a night.