The Best Massage I've Ever Had! - Wayne Massage, Auckland

This is a very very long overdue post, in fact it was only when I went to Auckland this weekend and planned (but failed due to time restraints) to go back while I was there, that I realised I never posted about it last time!

Photo from Wayne Massage's Facebook Page

On the 1st June, my husband and I were wandering towards Britomart with our 2 kids, and there was a shop frontage that jumped out at us, called "Wayne Massage". Now you can see from the photo above, that their massages start at $5, so we were more than a little sceptical, and kept walking. Wayne himself was standing outside giving out flyers, and as we took one, he came around behind my husband and started massaging his shoulders. Hubby is not always easily impressed, yet it was so good that hubby immediately agreed to a massage for both of us, and in we went.

Photo from Wayne Massage's Facebook Page

I sat down first and got a 20 minute massage. The lady who massaged me started in the front of the shop in a chair, then moved me to one of the private rooms where I could lie down and she could massage my back shoulders and neck properly.

I won't lie. It did hurt. A lot. But it was that good hurt, the kind you can tell is really doing something for all those knots in your body. 

Photo from Wayne Massage's Facebook Page

We were both so impressed! After often paying $60 for a 1 hour massage and still not feeling like a lot has been accomplished, both of us walked out of there refreshed, loosened up and ready for a nap, and all for only $20 each! It was just a shame that we then had to drive home to Tauranga afterwards!!

We were so disappointed that we missed out on another massage this weekend, especially as I see they now have a second branch, in the Elliott Street Atrium, which was directly across the road from our Hotel. Never mind. We will most definitely be back!!

Photo from Wayne Massage's Facebook Page

You can find Wayne Massage on their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wayne-Massage/288787241209676

Best Western President Hotel, Auckland

This was also posted by me on The Undercover Bloggers

Photo from Google Images

Our Family went up to Auckland for a couple of nights this weekend. I had front row tickets to the Designer Selection Fashion Show and NZ Fashion Week (oooerrrrr!)

We mulled it over for ages, then decided that even though hotel stays with an 8 month old teething baby and an almost 3 year old boy are rarely ever relaxing, we never get to go away, so we thought we would stay in a hotel for 2 nights, and make the most of it.

Photo from Google Images

After trawling Wotif.com for what seemed like hours, I chose the deal at Best Western President hotel on Victoria Street in Auckland City. The deal they had was $129 a night for a King Size bed and buffet breakfast daily for 2 people. I'm a big fan of Hotel breakfasts, so this was pretty exciting. Parking was $20 a night which brought our 2 night stay up to basically $300, so a big outing for a family who never goes anywhere!

Anyway, we arrived there on Friday afternoon and got checked in. I had seen photos on the website, it looked like a nice place, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving. I had a horrible feeling we were going to be let down, especially since their rating on Wotif was a self rated 3 stars.

Well, my worries were quickly proved wrong. It was a lovely hotel, all staff that we encountered were great, the room was bigger than we expected, had a view of The Atrium on Elliott, and the buffet breakfast was AWESOME. 

Nice bathroom

When we first arrived there was a problem with the air conditioning in our room, but we called Housekeeping and 2 staff members came up quickly and had it fixed straight away, and any staff we came into contact with throughout our stay were always lovely and more than helpful, and the very central location was perfect for us, and if we ever get to go away over night on our own, without the kids, that will probably be our choice of hotel.

The view from our Room

A meal of incredible inaccuracy - Dennys on Hobson Street, Auckland

By: The Spy at The Undercover Bloggers

So. Hubby, myself and our 22 month old boy hit Denny's on Hobson Street in Auckland, after going to "Walking With Dinosaurs" (An EXCELLENT SHOW, but that's another story!)

We have been to this and other Dennys Restaurants in the past and had both good and bad experiences, however it is usually quite good at this one.

I orderered a Hawaiian Chicken Roll meal, Hubby ordered a Mushroom Cheese Burger and for our boy we ordered a Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Curly Fries (That's how the menu said that they come.)

So. What did we recieve? First the Manager came out with a plate with two pieces of ham and said he was sorry, but his cook had forgotten to put the ham in my roll. That was ok, mistakes happen. Then we realised Dex's Curly Fries were not curly fries but in fact normal fries (which were not very nice anyway).

And then. Yes. There was more.

Hubby bites into his Mushroom Cheese Burger only to find...... no mushroom. A tiny bit of cheese. He couldn't get the attention of any staff, and we didn't have one of the push buttons at our table that are at many others, so he had to go and wait at the counter while heaps of people were served/seated, while his meal got cold. Then when he finally gets to the counter and says what the problem is, the Manager says, get this, "Oh, well is it ok like that?... (after some silence) Oh, would you like me to get the mushrooms for it?" Well.. um. Yes Thanks, seeing as I ordered a mushroom cheese burger.

We had planned to stay for dessert but after them getting 3/3 meals wrong, we figured there wasn't a lot of point, as we were bound to get the wrong thing. So we went up to the counter, paid our bill and left, with no apology for the amazing lack of ability to manage even one correct meal at a table.

Needless to say, that's us done with Denny's in the CBD. Except maybe for their Oreo Shakes/Sundaes as those are still usually pretty good!