$1600 a night B&B fails to sell

Photo / supplied

The Auckland bed & breakfast that quoted a woman NZ$1600 a night during next year's Rugby World Cup, has failed to sell at auction.

The property, which is on the doorstep of Eden Park, has five bedrooms and an estimated market value of $905,000.

But marketing agent Richard White of Bayleys said the property did not sell at auction yesterday, and there were no bidders.

White said he was "dealing with some people at the moment", but had not entered negotiations.

He refused to elaborate.

"I can't talk about a contract or lack of it," he said.

Property owner Anthony McAnulty faced a flood of criticism when it was revealed he tried to charge Yorkshire woman Jacqui Marsden NZ$1600 per night for a minimum 10 night stay during the Rugby World Cup.

Marsden said accommodation providers needed to be mindful of not exploiting tourists who were already paying thousands of pounds to travel to New Zealand.

"You have a wonderful opportunity to show the rugby world your country and I would hate for somebody to be left with a nasty taste in their mouth because they felt they were being ripped off because the country does not deserve that," she said.

McAnulty said he must have put the wrong number on an email to Marsden, but declined to say what the correct price was.

McAnulty and his wife Marlene purchased the Bellwood Ave property, for $200,000 in 1989.

The property was built in the early 1900s and has a land area of 562m2.

McAnulty described the decision to sell as an "unintended consequence of the immense media coverage".

An Australian tourism wholesaler had booked out the property for the duration of the world cup, following the publicity.

"When we started fielding Rugby World Cup booking enquiries from the likes of Australia, Argentina, France and England as a result of the publicity; Marlene and I thought this would be the perfect time to sell, not only an immediate going concern, but also a tourism business with guaranteed earnings," he said.

"We obviously had a long term business plan for the Eden Park Bed & Breakfast, but of course that never factored in the sort of turnover created by the Rugby World Cup. This is the sort of business opportunity which only comes up once in a lifetime."

- NZ HERALD