mi-pad Queenstown is an absolutely exceptional hotel for its price point. It may look plain on the outside (and eco-friendly), whilst inside it is super sleek, hip and modern. The hotel designers pride themselves on putting a lot of thought into exactly what travellers want in a hotel. We expected perfection and the hotel was almost perfect – we had to work mighty hard to find any minor shortcomings.

The communal spaces were phenomenal. The lobby lounge with its groovy fireplace is all most hotels would have, yet there was also another lounge and working desks on the same level. Downstairs was a large shared space for dining or hanging out with particularly groovy lights (I want to know where they sourced them from – I want some!), including a lovely courtyard with a vertical garden. The rooftop terrace was a major highlight for après ski drinks. Instead of finding a cocktail bar with views that charges an arm and a leg for a drink, we could buy drinks from the nearby bottle shop and rug up on the roof for sunset views across the town and lake.

Many of the shared spaces featured oversized scenic photos of Queenstown, and some of them were backlit so they looked even more spectacular. The free hot drinks from the vending machines were also a bit of a hit.

We stayed in a standard room which had delightful furnishings, a super comfie bed, and was rather compact (as advertised) but it didn’t matter as there the great social areas to spread out. The room had good soundproofing and I loved the funky bathroom with the mountain-view frosted glass so I could still look at the real mountain views from the shower. Some girls would appreciate the hair straightener, but the designers neglected to put a light above the mirror to apply makeup (doh!). Also if I was to nit pick, the towel rack was in the toilet rather than being within easy reach of the shower.
It’s a smart hotel that uses plenty of technology which was pretty cool but technology is only good when it actually works, and some things were a fraction gimmicky. For example, you could pick your colour for mood lighting or just let it cycle through different colours. Light sensors were in place in the footwells and the toilet (technology that’s in place in some aged care facilities to prevent patients from falling), but I just found it disturbed sleep when it inadvertently turned on and was annoying because I’m not at risk of falling over. Getting the internet TV to work was a rigmarole and sometimes it just didn’t work, and the wifi had its moments.

The mi-pad Queenstown hotel has taken some good steps to be eco friendly including plenty of insulation and small windows, lights that power off when no one is in the room, and not providing the small shampoo bottles.

Service levels were very good and all the staff worked hard to respond via the app or face-to-face with any queries, and they provided some good recommendations for dining.

Be aware that there is no parking at the hotel and the street parking out the front has a 2 hour limit. 24 hour parking is available 5 minutes walk away.

We got incredibly comfortable at the mi-pad hotel during our few days there and could have easily settled in for a fortnight. Highly recommended!
See our video here