January 31, 2008

Pacific | New Zealand | Wellington

Ohtel, Do Tell

By Tiffany Hawk

Leave your modesty at the door and head straight for the bathroom when you check into Wellington’s newest hotel.

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And you thought ME by Melia’s online antics had us blushing? With the raciest of websites, Wellington’s latest lodging, Ohtel, promises to make your Kiwi adventures manifestly intimate. Slated to open on Friday, Ohtel (we suspect the “Oh” comes from “oh” face), calls itself Wellington’s answer to Schrager-and-Starck, and is part of Navigate Oceana, a new collection of luxury boutique properties in New Zealand and Fiji. Ten uniquely furnished rooms feature mid-century design with modern technology (free WiFi and flatscreen TVs), so even if you’re traveling solo you can keep yourself entertained. But the real action happens in the bathroom, where solar-heated water hits you from every direction in the body-jet shower, and the tub is designed for two. To keep things cozy, even the bathroom floor is heated. Though with the antipodean summer now in full blaze, you might want to take advantage of Ohtel’s seaside locale of Oriental Bay.