There’s been a hotel on Cuba Street for as long as I can remem­ber.  In sixth form my very dar­ing sex-hav­ing friend booked her­self and her boyfriend a room at Trekkers Hotel for after our ball at Cuba Cuba (but she end­ed up get­ting too drunk to leave the room).  In the mid naugh­ties, we nom­i­nat­ed the hotel own­er for a TAWA award as super vil­lain of the year and he did not care for that at all. About ten years ago, we went to a Fish­head par­ty there and mod­els said “gosh you’re brave” because we got in our togs and went for a swim, but I’ve been able to swim since I was 7 so I don’t know what’s so brave about that? But any­way. There’s a new own­er now, and a new hotel in the form of the Nau­mi Stu­dio Welling­ton. And holy crap it looks gor­geous (Pho­tos are sup­plied because I am a shit pho­tog­ra­ph­er).

Naumi lobby

Well, when we say new, we mean the old CQ Hotel has had a mas­sive ren­o­va­tion. And if you’ve spent any time at all in the hotel as it used to be, the new ver­sion will knock your socks off.

The mul­ti-mil­lion dol­lar ren­o­va­tion took place over the past 18 months, with a sig­nif­i­cant halt on devel­op­ments through Covid-19 lock­down.

There are 115 rooms includ­ing spa­cious junior and exec­u­tive suites, each room expert­ly designed with com­fort in mind and fur­nished with a smart screen, Net­flix, and by-the-bed device charg­ing ports.The exectutive suite of the Naumi

A grand entrance on Dun­lop Street leads you straight to the bar, apt­ly named Lola Rouge and she is a beau­ty. Pull up a stool at Lola Rouge, and learn from the bar­keep about hotel cus­to­di­an, Lady Nau­mi. Her sto­ry is the foun­da­tion of the hotel and its design. Uncov­er her secrets and immerse into the curi­ous and quirky tales of Lady Nau­mi and what became of her sailor lover.

CEO of Nau­mi Hotels NZ and Aus­tralia is Mr Gau­rang Jhun­jh­nuwala who took own­er­ship of the prop­er­ty in late 2018.

“Devel­op­ing the build­ing espe­cial­ly through Covid lock­down restric­tions has been a chal­leng­ing labour of love, but to see it all come to life and the doors opened is joy­ful for our fam­i­ly and we hope you love it as much as we do”

“As most locals know, the prop­er­ty is steeped in his­to­ry, with sto­ries to be shared and told, as well as some that should prob­a­bly stay firm­ly locked in the walls” adds Gau­rang.

A very green gorgeous lounge

I haven’t stayed there yet, though I am booked in a for a review lat­er this month, but I have stayed at the Nau­mi at Auck­land Air­port and loved it and all its quirky Ins­ta-per­fect design. I’m sad that the enor­mous baths haven’t made their way down to Welling­ton, but I under­stand that space is a lit­tle bit tighter in a her­itage build­ing on Cuba Street.  If the rel­lies are plan­ning on stay­ing at yours these hol­i­days, maybe leave them to it and book your­self a Nau­mi room instead?