Since this article was first published, the City of Christchurch has suffered two devastating earthquakes. The Holiday Inn on Avon is indefinitely closed. For the latest information on what to see and do as the city is rebuilt, visit http://www.christchurch.org.nz/ or contact Continental Club.

There’s always a danger, when planning a trip, of automatically assuming that the most highly-rated, best-reviewed or sumptuously-specified accommodations will necessarily best suit your needs. On a trip like this one, choosing a suburban Holiday Inn so soon after a St Regis may appear akin to following the sublime with the ridiculous but, somehow, it seemed to promise delivery of everything that we would need from a Christchurch base – especially since we were furnished with a hire car and the city centre was not reportedly a particularly attractive place after dark.

The fact that the hotel rates offered stunning value for money sealed the deal.

The Holiday Inn Christchurch on Avon is some way from the city centre, though easily walkable in around 20 minutes, initially along the tree-lined banks of the Avon River. Car parking is plentiful and free of charge and the whole hotel lives up to those curiously reliable characteristics of Holiday Inns the World over – about 20 years out of date, spacious and spotlessly clean.

The hotel was, really, very difficult to fault. The rooms were large, the beds comfortable and the bathrooms fully-featured.

Service was, without exception, friendly and helpful – from Reception through Housekeeping and to the Restaurant.

Indeed, the restaurant proved to be something of a particular surprise, especially as the head waiter was very concerned that the presence of a coach party dining at the same time might delay our meal. Somehow any delay, if there was one, seemed to go unnoticed as we enjoyed a spacious table and the opportunity to chat and just enjoy not being in a hurry. That the food was also huge in portion and excellent in quality was a further delight and we spent an immensely enjoyable evening there – with the concerned head waiter going out of his way to quietly thank me ‘for bringing your family to eat with us tonight.’ Just great, I thought; really lovely.

The super-sized dinner might have prompted an early morning visit to the hotel’s gym and indoor swimming pool facility, although a post check-in exploration had revealed that these were not the property’s flagship amenities. Indeed, had the combined fitness features been much more compact, then it is likely that the exercise bike would have had to have been submerged in the shallow end of the pool. Aquavelo – I can see it now. Best then not to worry about that and remember the comfy bed, super service and incredible rates.

Final Verdict for the Holiday Inn Christchurch on Avon: 7.0/10. No one would ever suggest that this was cutting-edge hospitality with every possible service catered for, but the Holiday Inn was a friendly, welcoming and comfortable hotel that delivered everything that was required from it with confidence and reliability. I’d return without hesitation and, when next it benefits from the cyclical renovations that come the way of all chain properties, then I’m sure that it could add at least a point to this score.