This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
Basically these are buildings with rooms rented out by the night.
They tend to have a dining facility like a cafe or restaurant,
bellboys to help you with bags etc.
The price and quality depends on the type of hotel it is.
There are budget hotels that provide the basic room. Some even have
cheaper rooms if you share facilities. An example is the Kiwi
International Hotel in Auckland where the price starts from about
NZ$70 per night.
At the other end of the scale there are luxury 5 star hotels where the
average double room is at least $150 - $200 per night during off peak.
There are very few 5 start hotels in NZ, the good ones are mostly four
star hotels.
The mid-range hotels are at least $100/room/night. The Chains in this
range include, Quality Hotel, Flag Inns and Best Western.
 
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