Venue

Au Contraire 2013 was held at the Quality Hotel on Cuba St in the heart of Wellington. Cuba Street hosts a wide range of restaurants catering to varied tastes and budgets, from the exclusive Logan Brown to cafes, kebab shops, and grocery stores. It's just a short walk from the bus stops on Dixon and Manners Streets and plenty of parking options; on-site parking is available for hotel guests.

The hotel has a private conference level on the first floor, with a boardroom and a main hall that can be split into five separate function rooms by high quality soundproof dividers. We also had use of the large bar area on the ground floor, and additional function space on the Quality accommodation level.

The hotel has two wings - spacious luxurious rooms in the Quality Hotel wing to the south, and affordable basic rooms in the Comfort Hotel wing to the north. Comfort twin or double rooms were just $100 per night. There was also one triple room for $140/night. Quality rooms were $159/night.

Getting There

The hotel is located on Cuba Street between Vivian and Abel Smith Streets. Both the Comfort Hotel and Quality Hotel entrances lead to the same reception area, so it doesn't matter which you use.

By Bus: From the railway station or the northern or western suburbs, you can catch any southbound bus. In most cases, get off at the corner of Cuba Mall and Manners St, then walk south down Cuba. A few buses go down Victoria St instead; for these, get off at the corner of Vivian Street and walk east to Cuba St. From the airport or the southern or eastern suburbs, you can catch any northbound bus, including the Airport Flyer. Get off at the corner of Manners St and Cuba Mall, outside Arty Bees bookshop just past the triangular Te Aro/Pigeon Park. See Metlink for timetables.

By Car: Cuba St itself isn't good for on-street parking, but there are a number of parking lots in the area - see Wilson Parking. For hotel guests, there is limited onsite parking via Dunlop Terrace at $15/day - availability not guaranteed.

Wellington

Wellington is New Zealand's capital city, and a great place to visit. The compact city centre surrounded by bush-covered hills provides both natural and unnatural attractions. Shopping, parks and gardens, museums and galleries, live music and theatre. There's also an enormous range of cafes, bars, and restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. August is winter in New Zealand, but our climate is pretty mild - don't expect snow or below freezing temperatures, though the wind can get quite chilly. Most of our trees are evergreen, so the city is beautiful all year round.