A Hotel, A Pub, A View: How Four Points by Sheraton Auckland Holds A City's History

Standing at the corner of Queen Street and Mayoral Drive, the Four Points by Sheraton Auckland hides a quiet paradox. From a distance, it looks every bit the modern city hotel - sleek glass lines, a minimalist entry, the corporate gleam you would expect from an international chain. But walk closer, and you meet the unmistakable face of its past: an Edwardian facade with brick pilasters, decorative pediments, and the faintly stubborn grace of something that has survived too much to blend in.

This is the remnant of The Queen's Head, one of Auckland's oldest pubs, whose history dates back to the 1860s. Long before Marriott's architects touched the site, this corner poured beer for dockworkers, sailors, and brewery men who defined early Auckland's social life. The fact that the building still greets guests today - albeit as part of a contemporary hotel - says a lot about how cities remember, even when they rebuild.

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The Queen's Head: From Ale to Architecture

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The first Queen's Head hotel was started by Henry Hopper Adams on Victoria Street in the 1860s. By 1868, he opened another on Upper Queen Street - a wooden, two-storey building that catered to passing sailors. In the 1880s, John Carroll Seccombe, a beer baron of the Great Northern Brewery, rebuilt it entirely.

The new building had all the charm of Victorian confidence - pressed bricks, Portland cement finish, and pilasters capped with leaves carved in stone. The parapet carried three pediments: the central one spelling out the hotel's name, the side ones embossed with the Queen's head. Then in 1887, a fire gutted the upper storey. Business resumed, of course, because beer and survival tend to go hand in hand.

Today, that facade, cleaned up and restored, forms the street face of Four Points. Purists might argue it is only skin-deep preservation. But to stand before it, especially as the afternoon light hits the building, is to feel the quiet bridge between two centuries: a 19th-century tavern dressed in 21st-century glass.

Inside the Modern Heart

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Step through the heritage shell, and you find the calm precision of a Marriott. The hotel opened in 2018 as New Zealand's first Four Points, with 255 rooms, each drawing on minimalist design and Auckland's love for natural light. The transition from the ornate exterior to the restrained interior feels deliberate - almost like a palate cleanser.

The check-in area is streamlined, the corridors whisper-clean, and the rooms follow that now-familiar Sheraton philosophy: comfort without clutter. Floor-to-ceiling windows open to city skylines and, if you are lucky, a sliver of the Sky Tower framed against an evening haze. There is no overstatement here - just good, solid hospitality that feels designed for travellers who like things efficient but not soulless.

The Queen's Head Bar: History on Tap

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Downstairs, the hotel keeps its most charming secret. The Queen's Head Bar & Eatery occupies what was once the ground level of the original pub - the same address that served dockhands over a century ago. Today, it is more polished: dark wood panels, brass accents, high stools, and a relaxed playlist that bridges eras.

But the bar has not forgotten its roots. It still takes pride in its beer - particularly local craft pours that rotate through the taps. When I asked the bartender what made the place special, he smiled and said, "It is the only bar in Auckland where you can drink where sailors once did - and with a much better view."

The menu is straightforward: Kiwi produce, hearty portions, and a sense of familiarity that fits the Four Points brand's unpretentious spirit. Try the beer-battered fish, and you might understand why the past and present get along so well here.

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The Churchill: Where the City Meets the Sky

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Eleven floors up, the mood shifts entirely. The Churchill, the hotel's rooftop bar, is named with a wink to gin, cigars, and British grit, but its soul is unmistakably Auckland. It is also the city's highest gin bar, and from its open terrace, you can see the skyline fold into the horizon.

The Churchill stocks over 150 varieties of gin, and the menu reads like a masterclass in botanical storytelling. Locally distilled favourites like Scapegrace, Reid + Reid, and Lighthouse sit beside imports from Europe and Japan. But the real charm lies in how they serve it: you pick your base gin, tonic, and garnish, and the bartender turns it into something personal.

As the sun sets, the Sky Tower lights up in the distance, and the bar slowly fills with a mix of locals, hotel guests, and after-work regulars. There is an easy rhythm here - part rooftop glamour, part neighbourhood bar - the kind of place where conversations stretch longer than planned.

A View That Knows Its City

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From the terrace at The Churchill, Auckland unfolds like a layered history lesson - from heritage facades to glass high-rises, from the ferry wharf in the distance to the soft glow of Karangahape Road. On clear evenings, the skyline is cinematic; on rainy days, it feels like a black-and-white photograph come alive.

It is here that the building's transformation feels complete. What was once a sailors' tavern now overlooks a city humming with craft gin, digital nomads, and global travellers. And yet, there is a through-line - a sense of belonging to the street, the view, and the night.

Between Memory and Modernity

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Four Points by Sheraton Auckland is not trying to be a heritage museum. It is a working hotel - practical, efficient, and modern. But what sets it apart is its relationship with its past. The facade is not just a decorative front; it is a daily reminder that the city once looked, sounded, and smelled very different.

Too often, heritage preservation ends up being cosmetic. Here, though, there is at least a sense of respect - a willingness to let the old coexist with the new. Whether you are sipping a gin at The Churchill or a pint downstairs at the Queen's Head, there is an invisible continuity in the act itself: people gathering, talking, staying.

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The Verdict

Four Points by Sheraton Auckland will not overwhelm you with grandeur - and that is precisely why it works. It understands what it is: a city hotel with a conscience, one that has inherited a history rather than erased it. The rooms are comfortable, the service easy-going, and the bars - both The Churchill and The Queen's Head - make sure no evening goes to waste.

If you are in Auckland, it is worth stopping by even if you are not staying the night. Order a gin upstairs, a beer downstairs, and let the building tell you its story. You will leave with a sense that you have not just visited a hotel, but a corner of Auckland that remembers where it came from.