Hotel staff, including a fire warden, also wearing masks, supervised the guests in and out of the hotel.
"Several of the evacuees looked fairly excited by the brief break in their quarantine routine," said the witness.
One NZDF personnel was overheard saying "everything went as planned" to a member of the public, but would not speak to the Herald about the operation or the cause of the evacuation.
The Covid-19 All of Government Response Group said it was looking into the evacuation.