Located alongside Christchurch Airport, you will find the Sudima Hotel. We used this hotel at both the beginning and the end of our Lower South Island road trip. There is a free shuttle service running from the hotel to the airport constantly.

A large sprawling older hotel, with one level above ground floor, the long, seemingly endless corridors, are reminiscent of school hallway days. At the moment the hotel is undergoing renovations, with a lot of construction happening. The plans displayed in the foyer, keep you up to date with the big changes ahead. Surprisingly though, given the close airport location, rooms here were very quiet, obviously well insulated from the airport noise.

Everything was clean, tidy and well presented, from reception, through to the rooms and the restaurant.

Courtyards are visible in the middle of the hotel area. This one was our view as we dined in the restaurant on our last night.

We chose a premium Bureau room, which includes air conditioning, unlike the standard room. Our rooms on both stays, were located on the second level, the only thing I missed from these rooms, was a balcony. However as both our stops were short overnight stays either transferring to or from the airport, it didn’t matter. Some of the rooms did have balconies, so my guess would be to request a room with one if you prefer a balcony.

Buffet breakfast after our first nights stay was fresh with a good selection of the normal buffet breakfast foods. Well enjoyed after our midnight arrival, followed by a well deserved rest.

Upon reaching the end of our trip, we arrived in time to enjoy dinner in the Lobby restaurant. If we hadn’t been as tired, we would have quite enjoyed a relaxing drink in the bar area. However, on this occasion, by the time we finished savouring our dinner, the exhaustion was setting in.

My choice of the venison dish, perched on a shell shaped bed of mashed potatoes, was an absolute delight. Not only very well presented, the meal was cooked to perfection. This was melt in the mouth venison, a devine dish. We definitely had no problem with the food quality here.

Sometimes you feel the need to finish with something a little sweet. This was the case this evening, however we both only wanted something light so our choice of a basic ice cream sundae, satisfied the sweet tooth nicely.

Staff here were all polite, helpful and professional. We enjoyed a bit of light banter with our waiter, as we were the first to arrive in the dining room that evening.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay to ensure you don’t miss your early flight, then I do recommend the Sudima. Another bonus I was advised of upon checkout, they can now link the value of your stays to your Air New Zealand loyalty card, which will help to boost your points. I’m not sure if this also applies to Air NZ’s partner airlines. Might be worth checking out though. Enjoy your stay. 👍. You may even take the time to indulge in a refreshing cocktail!