my husband, 18 year old and i will have one day/ night in christchurch before catching an early train in the morning. we would love to be where we can walk around, not taking our car or a cab. any great suggestions for one night? under 200NZ, please
thanks!!

Crowne Plaza. Right in the centre of ChCh, beside the Town Hall. Fabulous hotel, great restaurants. Close to Colombo Street (main street of ChCh) 100 meters. Will be at the top end of your price range.

Slightly cheaper, Quality Hotel on Colombo. Be careful, there are two, the other is further from the centre.

Grand Chancelor, on Cashel Street.Good hotel, and very central. Hard to get to by car, one way streets keep pushing you away from it.

Heritage Hotel, on Cathedral Square. Not my favourite hotel, but very central.

Wasn't sure if your husband is 18 yrs old, or if there are three of you. The charge for three may put the Crowne Plaza over your budget, but IMO it's the pick of all the central city hotels.

I can also recommend the Millenium which is also right in the centre of the city and would probably be a little cheaper than the Crowne Plaza.

I stayed at Stonehurst (they have self-contained motel units with 3 beds) at Latimer Sqaure (a stone's throw from Cathedral Sqaure) - great place and people. They also had a free pickup to the station(presumably you're taking the TranzApline to Greymouth?)

The more interesting tourist sights are along Rolleston. There are B&Bs along Armagh and Rolleston that would be a better choice. I like Windsor Hotel but there are others. The tram runs along Armagh and stops in front of the Windsor, connects to Cathedral Square, which is also walking distance. See windsorhotel.co.nz

Thanks for the suggestions; anyone know about Dorothy's?? someone just told me about that?
thanks

so, all in all i can get a great rate (150 NZ) at the crowne plaza; would you do that or a bed and breakfast more? Location? near river? any thoughts???

Would you need to book in advance if you were there in the end of November or early December?

Christchurch is often difficult to book, at any time of year, so I would.

Last January, on a 17-day tour of NZ from the US, we spent our one night in Christchurch at the YMCA. We had never stayed at a "Y" but it looked pretty good on its website, so we took a shot. What a surprise! Not only is the city center location great--across the street from the Botanic Garden and the Arts Centre--but a deluxe room was only $60! And there's a laundry, internet hookups, coffee shop and dining hall on the premises. Cathedral Square is only 3 blocks away. You can't beat it...John

The Windsor Hotel is nice.
www.windsorhotel.co.nz
Cheers,
Dougie
www.newzealandatoz.com

We spent 3 nights in the Heritage Hotel on Cathedral Square in the Old Government Building part of the hotel just last month.

A stunning building, beautifully renovated and the tram and free yellow bus stops at the door.

we booked on wotif.com.

Heartily recommended.

Heritage is over $300 NZ rack rate, so I assume you got a great deal!

Jeez, is it? We paid $169.00 NZ.

We got a two storey fully self contained room with kitchen, dining and lounge downstairs and bathroom, bedroom and laundry upstairs.

Our ceilings were 5.3 metres high and we looked out on the rear of the cathedral and part of the square.

can vouch for Crowne Plaza. great location.