I booked my stay originally for one night at the Roma in January 2011 as we were meeting up with family members after flying direct from UK - over 24 hours flying and 36 hours travelling, with the time difference added in. I extended the booking to two nights and then also added a night for the following weekend, when we would be travelling from Dunedin to Picton and would need to break the journey. Following the Earthquake I contacted the Roma to check everything was Ok with them.
When we arrived at the Roma the lady on reception told me I had not booked! She was extremely rude to me when I insisted not only had I booked, but had email trail & booking reference to prove it. After tracking down her reading glasses to check my bonafides, she still continued to be rude (to the extent that my d-i-l who is a Kiwi was so embarrassed at the treatment we were getting, she had to step outside, so as not to loose her temper and make matters worse.)
Eventually we managed to convince the receptionist that I did have a booking for two nights and were duly found a room. The receptionist said that I 'did not understand how tough the last year had been for them'. To be honest - this wasn't my problem!! I'm sure it can't have been easy to trade with the constant threat of further earthquales, but this is not the guests fault. You have chosen to stay - I have not made you.
My son was going to book a room for the Sunday night, but Roma lost the business to the Motel next door due to the attitude we received.
Whilst out shopping at the nearby mall later in the day, we happened to bump into the receptionist, who described herself as my 'worst enemy.' I think staff at the Roma would be wise to investigate if Post Traumatic Stress counselling is available for Christchurch residents.

All that aside the rooms are nice & clean and well equipped. The Motel is well placed (see other reviews) and I would have scored higher if we had received an apology for their error. The best we got was that the Roma had cancelled my booking when a lot of the bookings for the Rugby had been cancelled - they did not bother to inform me of this - an email would have been nice, especially as I had said all along I was not going to NZ for the RWC.

Very clean comfortable spacious well equipped modern room, well serviced each day.

Didn't notice traffic noise or lights from the street.

Walkable distance from loads of good cheap restaurants, Riccarton Mall and movie theatre. Close to Hagley park and Botanic Gardens. Great place to stay to avoid earthquake affected areas.

Has charge back relationship with a couple of restaurants closeby also.

In view of Christchurch center being virtually inaccessible/fenced off and therefore a lack of restaurants/hotels/shopping we stayed in the Riccarton area from where we could walk to the center and other areas. Very nice hotel owners, great cooked breakfast, served in our spacious room with kitchen amenities, quiet, comfi beds. We were sad that we were not able to view the supposedly beautiful city due to the earthquake. However it was a great gateway to our discovery of the South island.

great place to stay if you arrive, like my family, at 1:00am, Doug will pick up from airport. What more can you ask for!! He's most helpful when asked places to see, inexpensive places to have dinner. hi.ghly recommended