The Astro Edit: Inside the Hotel Indigo Auckland Project

When a hotel sets out to tell a story, every detail matters. For Hotel Indigo Auckland, that story was one of design, discovery, and a deep connection to place. From the scent in the air of Auckland to the speaker on the bedside table, every element was intentionally curated to reflect the neighbourhood and elevate the guest experience. Astro partnered with the Indigo team from the ground up, not just as a supplier, but as a creative collaborator across guest rooms, amenities, and food and beverage spaces.

Key Deliverables:

• Guestroom appliances and accessories
• Custom toiletries
• Food and Beverage, back of house through to buffets, table top etc

The Challenge:

When Hotel Indigo Auckland opened its doors, it wasn’t just launching a new hotel, it was launching a story and stories rely on detail.

The team’s vision was to create a curated, design led experience that reflected the local neighbourhood, the hotel’s automotive theme, and the lifestyle expectations of today’s guest.

“Why do people choose to stay in a hotel? I think consumers over the last couple of years have really changed in what they're looking for in terms of their hotel stay… What has changed is they're really looking for an experience and curated experience.” - Mathew Simister, Hotel Indigo Auckland

But they didn’t just need design. They needed scale, problem solving, and a partner who could deliver it all.

“When we partner with a supplier for procurement for a brand like Hotel Indigo, we're really looking for someone that understands the brand… There’s certain areas where absolutely we want to save money, but there’s other areas that we really want some bespoke things that are going to add to our guest experience.” - Mathew

What Asto Delivered:

Astro supplied, coordinated, customised and delivered a full suite of products across guestroom, amenities, and F&B, including:

In-Room Accessories & Appliances:

• Bespoke white leather accessories:
• Oliver Hemming Bluetooth speaker
• JVD minibars, kettles, and safes
• GHD hair dryers
• Custom umbrellas
• Sustainable Robes
• Seedling Sole Slippers

Toiletries:

• Custom amenity range co created with Maraca

Custom Guest Collateral:

• Branded laundry and hair dryer bags
• Umbrella dryers

Food & Beverage Fit Out:

• Full buffet station serviceware
• Gastros, spatulas, whisks, utensils (Back of House)
• Table top, serviceware, barware (Front of House)

The Process:

The collaboration began 18 months before doors opened, with Astro providing not just product, but guidance, design thinking, and timeline clarity.

“I'd love to say it's a set and forget, and we do this, but there's a lot of back and forth that goes through there to really curate the product properly… and that was a great way that Astro were able to support, clarity around what our timelines were and when we needed to make decisions.” - Mathew

The Astro showroom was a critical space for decision making and stakeholder approval.

“It's great to have these different settings of different rooms within that showroom to look at… being able to take the owner through, to look, to feel, to touch, to understand why we're choosing the quality product, that’s a critical part of the process.” - Mathew

Guestroom Highlights:

From the custom leather accessories to the speaker that looked like it belonged in a vintage car, everything was curated to reflect the hotel's identity.

“We had this bespoke accessory range… in white leather, and that was all to fit into the design of the room, but also to fit into this kind of automotive theme that we had throughout the hotel.” - Mathew

“What we ended up with through Astro, was this beautiful Oliver Hemming Bluetooth speaker that was also a wireless charger… it's got this beautiful kind of old school feel to it.” - Mathew

The Scent Story:

Working with local scent house Maraca, Astro helped Hotel Indigo develop a fragrance that could be bottled, branded, and remembered.

“Reuben raised this idea of working with a local supplier, Maraca, and creating our own amenity range… I have to be honest, I was very nervous.” - Mathew

“In my laptop bag I was carrying around these different scents… and every time I bumped into someone I knew I said, ‘Hey, can you just smell these four things for me and tell me which one you prefer?’” - Mathew

“It was really important to tie the scent into our neighbourhood… and the naming that we got to with Waitematā was obviously about the Hauraki Gulf that we've got right out in front of us.” - Matt

The Indigo Touch:

No detail was too small. From laundry bags designed to be taken home, to custom umbrellas, Astro helped build tactile guest memories.

“What I wanted to create was a laundry bag that was a little bit different, that people could really resonate that it came from Hotel Indigo Auckland… and Astro's team put that together for us.” - Matt

Food & Beverage That Didn’t Feel “Hotel”:

Astro worked with the F&B team to ensure the restaurant and bar felt like standalone venues, not hotel outlets.

“Astro was pretty critical to support me in how we were shaping our food and beverage offering. We really wanted to look at beautiful service wear, beautiful display wear that didn't feel like a hotel that really fit in with the aesthetics of the dining room.” - Joey Hickman, Restaurant and Bar Manager

“Astro has provided us with a great foundation of what makes a great restaurant. All the gastros and whisks and spatulas, things that we need from the ground up, for customers to have a great experience.” - Yutak Son, Executive Chef

“Astro as a whole has been absolutely golden. We have one go to and they will provide everything we need.” - Joey

The Showroom Experience:

The Astro showroom wasn’t just a place to look at product, it became a space to make decisions, match materials, and get owner buy in on high end selections.

“The Astro showroom is really important for a number of reasons. One, you want to see product in the situation it's in, in a kind of hotel like environment.” - Mathew

“It also gives you ideas. You're able to kind of go in there and go, ok, that works with that or that works with that or that's not going to work there.” - Mathew

“The reality is I need an owner to sign off on that process. So being able to take them through, to look, to feel, to touch, to understand why we're choosing the quality product that we're choosing, that's a critical part of the process.” - Mathew

“We wanted to select things for this hotel that were, in a number of places, on the higher end of the scale… So to take them through that showroom and show them where we've saved money and where we're spending money and why is a really important part of the process to get the owner signed off.” - Mathew

Throughout the journey, the showroom served as both a practical decision making tool and supporting the hotel team with confidence, context, and clarity.

The Result:

Astro covered 100% of the procurement list, from Bluetooth speakers to biodegradable slippers, and helped deliver a guest experience that’s unforgettable.

“There were a number of other suppliers when we sent out kind of a full procurement list that they could do 95% of it. And Astro was able to cover the entirety of our list. And they really worked hard to make sure that they could.” “They are fantastic at providing a different set of ideas and different supplies that they can utilise to give us the product that we want that's going to provide the best guest experience.” - Mathew