Police stand guard outside the Auckland Harbour Oaks apartment building on Gore St, Britomart after a woman was shot around 10AM this morning.

A woman shot in a downtown Auckland hotel room is out of surgery but yet to talk to police.

The 29-year-old woman was shot in the leg around 10am on Saturday in a room at the Harbour Oaks apartment building on Gore St in Auckland's old red light district.

Police believe she was visiting a man who was booked into the 38 storey Harbour Oaks, the tallest apartment tower in the central city, which offers serviced apartment hotel accommodation.

Police stand guard outside the Auckland Harbour Oaks apartment building on Gore St,

Hotel staff were first to respond, offering what first aid they could before an ambulance arrived. The woman was eventually stretchered down to the lobby and take to Auckland Hospital where she is now in a stable condition.

By then the gunman had fled and police are hunting him, but say there is no need for public concern. The man and woman knew each other and both are known to police.

Senior Sergeant Danny Meade said police had searched the room the woman was shot in and then used hotel security footage to identify multiple people going in and out of the room. They then tracked their movements in and out of the hotel.

ALICE PEACOCK/FAIRFAX NZ Police said both the victim and the shooter were known to them.

"It would appear that all those involved were known to each other," Meade said.

Senior Sergeant Matt Knowsley, who lead the initial scene investigation, confirmed several people had come and gone from the room and from the CCTV footage he had seen, police were focused on one man who looked to be Maori or Polynesian.

"What they were arguing about, at this stage, I don't know," Knowsley said.

ALICE PEACOCK/FAIRFAX NZ Police were interviewing witnesses at the Auckland Harbour Oaks.

He said it was believed the room where the shooting happened could have been booked under the attacker's name.

No weapon had yet been found and Meade said: "The one person who knows what happened is in the hospital right now."

Police interviewed hotel management and neighbours in other apartments. They said anyone that was in the Gore St area at the time who could know more should contact them.

A receptionist at the Harbour Oaks said staff had not heard any gun shots.

Jonathan Knight, who was also booked into the Harbour Oaks, said the incident was unsettling.

"It's very worrying as I'm here for a long time. I'm worried that that person is still out there."

The Auckland Harbour Oaks Hotel is flanked by a liquor store and a beauty parlour.

Across the road sits a Gentlemans Club and an adult entertainment club.