Close your eyes and picture a chocolate hotel.
Your mind might be conjuring up images of chocolate artworks, edible cups and cutlery, furniture carved from chocolate, even a chocolate toothbrush and toothpaste.
You flick on the chocolate light switch, but the bulbs are made of chocolate, so you sit and enjoy the darkness – it too is made of chocolate.
When you reluctantly go to check out, you toss a chocolate coin into the hotel’s pièce de résistance, a large chocolate fountain in the foyer. You make a wish that every day could be that magnificent.
And open your eyes.
We may have found the closest thing, which isn’t a figment of your imagination and won’t melt when you sit on it, right here in Aotearoa.
In collaboration with Ponsonby’s Michelin Key-awarded Hotel Fitzroy, and created to mark 130 years of the chocolate brand, Whittaker’s has launched a one-of-a-kind hotel experience called the Chocolate Sweet.
The news of the experience was met with such curiosity that it sold out, and Whittaker’s extended its residency another week. So my 6-year-old son and I checked in to find out exactly what a night there entails.
Before we even walked through the front doors, the experience was already underway, with the soft furnishings on the outdoor chairs and hotel emblems changed to Whittaker’s gold and brown.
As we entered the lobby, chocolate bar bookends sat on the entry table, and my son immediately pocketed somewhere between 2 and 15 mini Whittaker’s blocks from the display bowl. After all, we were promised in our welcome message, “If it’s made of chocolate, it’s yours to take.”
We were soon greeted and talked through the experience as we enjoyed our welcome drink – a Whittaker’s x Lewis Road Creamery chocolate milk complete with a Sante bar.
We were then given a novelty old-timey key that did absolutely nothing and did not gain us access anywhere, but it had a tassel and the Whittaker’s logo on it, and was ours to keep.
We used the regular hotel swipe card to enter our “Sweet”, and the room immediately got a first-impression rose from us.
The bed was a Whittaker’s-themed masterpiece, carefully curated and thoughtfully designed, with elegant touches and genuinely high-end finishes.
I was left pleasantly surprised to find duck-down pillows from Wallace Cotton, a rug – that looked like squares of chocolate – from Kiwi artisans at Baya Living, and towels and bathrobes from New Zealand brand Baina, where a single dressing gown will set you back $300.
The candles were Whittaker’s, the coat hangers were Whittaker’s-embossed, the dishes and cups all featured the logo and were perfectly colour-matched, as were the slippers. The speaker, from Marshall, was in the colours of white chocolate and caramel, as were the dried flowers.
A “Hello, chocolate lovers” decal was draped across the bathroom mirror as if Nigella Lawson put it there herself.
Colour me chocolate, and colour me impressed.
With collaborations, I’ve come to expect tags that read “highly flammable” and things that feel gimmicky and wasteful. But the Fitzroy’s already high-end brand, paired with Whittaker’s, honestly made both brands feel decadent and rich.
As for the chocolate elements that you could actually eat, while not in the bulbs, it was virtually everywhere else. My son quickly gathered it up and counted our initial room haul – seven 250g blocks, chocolate pods in bowls and dishes throughout, a welcome full bag of pods and three chocolate kiwis.
The library next to our room was a catalogue of chocolate history and games, as well as a chocolate tasting exploration. The decor was fun, playful and interactive as we enjoyed some Whittaker’s noughts and crosses, connect four and finding hidden chocolate elements in the shelving displays.
From 5-6pm we were invited to enjoy the Whittaker’s high tea, which was honestly just a standard high tea with rather dry sandwiches and a confusing vibe, but there were some Whittaker’s chocolates present.
After a dreamy sleep, breakfast was delivered to our room and consisted of a chicken and bacon sandwich, a vegetable burrito and sides of yoghurt, fruit, granola, juices and coffee – all included in the stay. The food was adequate, but the fresh fruit was frost-bitten and not quite the culinary experience I’d expect from a Michelin Keys-level stay.
There was, of course, Whittaker’s touches in this too, with four Whittaker’s reserve chocolates on our plates, and another three 250g blocks.
The mini bar was also fully complimentary with the stay, my son reminded me as we packed our bags, and I sent him off to school with sugar racing through his veins and an “I’m sorry”, block of Blonde chocolate for his teachers.
So, with 10 full-size blocks in tow and a bag 4kg heavier, was the experience worth it? Did it make a chocolate lover’s heart sing?
This might come as a shock, you might even feel deceived, but I don’t actually care for chocolate and much prefer savoury foods. Which I guess makes this verdict all the more surprising; I left genuinely impressed by the experience, the joy it brought my son and me and how sweet it all was.
During what is a pretty crappy time in the world, where everything feels hard, maybe we do need a little surprise, delight and silliness in our lives?
This experience gives just that in droves. It’s perfect for a wow date night, to cheer up that choccy-loving friend, or spoil a kid who will empty the contents of his bag the next day at school like a king.
It’s a lot of fun and total novelty, but it also gives wonder and awe in a world not offering us much of that these days.
It turns out a trip to a chocolate hotel might be just what the doctor ordered, but not the dentist.
A one-night stay at the Whittaker’s Hotel Sweet costs $300, and all proceeds from Hotel Sweet are donated to Save the Kiwi.
The Herald stayed courtesy of Whittaker’s.