Yes, visitors can marvel at New Zealand’s stupendous scenery by unzipping a tent or opening the camper van door. But won’t it seem more marvellous if they’re gazing at it through picture windows while reclining on a chaise longue with a glass of sauvignon blanc?
Luxury accommodation is easy to come by in New Zealand, and the good news for your clients is that it doesn’t have to be cripplingly expensive. While it’s possible to blow the budget visitors can stay in beautiful, characterful places without getting a second mortgage.
Fiordland Lodge, Te Anau, South Island
The lodge’s front doors are surely the biggest in New Zealand, and they open on to one of its biggest views. Once visitors push back the vast wooden portals they’ll step through into the glass-fronted lounge, looking out over Lake Te Anau.
It’s not just a stunning sight, it also conveniently allows you to keep an eye on the weather rolling in off Doubtful Sound, the major attraction in the area, before
heading out on a cruise along the fjord.
Sumptuously comfortable armchairs, a baronial-sized stone fireplace, a deer’s head and a wrought iron candelabra hanging from the Douglas-fir trusses that soar 36 feet high make the lounge area feel simultaneously grand and welcoming – the perfect place to sit and contemplate the view with a glass of a New Zealand vintage before dinner.
The food, served in the adjoining dining room, is exceptional, particularly the extensive, home-cooked breakfasts, which set guests up for a day exploring the sounds, walking in the mountains or doing a spot of fishing.
There’s a library on a balcony area above the lounge, so there are plenty of books to bunker down with if the rain sets in and guests aren’t hardy, all-weather trampers.
The long, narrow shape of the lodge means all 10 guest-rooms have the same wonderful lake view as the lounge. Ground floor rooms open on to the lawn, first floor rooms on to balconies. The decor is understated and elegant. The en-suite bathrooms have heated floors and locally sourced organic toiletries.
There’s an executive suite that comes with a separate lounge area with a cosy gas fire and a Jacuzzi bath – perfect for honeymooners looking for romantic seclusion. For families, consider the two log cabins just a few metres away from the lodge itself. Each has a master bedroom downstairs and above a twin or a triple room.
The lodge owner was a park ranger for 25 years, and offers bespoke guiding services for guests who want to go hiking, fly-fishing, birdwatching, or hunting.
Book it: Bales Worldwide offers lodge rooms from £268 per room per night twin-share on a half-board basis. balesworldwide.com, 0845 057 0600
The Hermitage, Mount Cook, South Island
The Hermitage Hotel stands as a tribute to the adventurous Kiwi spirit – it was built in 1884 for intrepid mountaineers keen to tackle the mighty Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak.
Now visitors are as likely to be drawn for the stupendous views of Aoraki – the Maori name means ‘cloud piercer’ – from within the warmth of the sleek, spacious hotel.
There’s a wide range of accommodation options, from motel and chalet units right up to the best Premium Plus rooms. These sit on the penthouse floor of the newest part of the hotel, built in 2001, and have either a king-sized or two queen-sized beds.
The complimentary bathrobes just beg to be put on before guests kick back in the seating area and stare through the large picture windows at the clouds whispering around the peak of Mount Cook, which looks close enough to touch. There’s even a small balcony.
In addition to the buffet restaurant where acceptable breakfasts and dinners are served, there is the fine-dining Panorama restaurant, which is definitely worth the upgrade. The food – contemporary cuisine celebrating the finest Kiwi ingredients – the service and the views are all exceptional.
The Hermitage isn’t merely the only hotel in the area, it’s really the only mark of man on the landscape. The isolation is thrilling, but the hotel has also gone to lengths to ensure guests aren’t bored.
Excursions include boat trips on the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier, where visitors can bob around among icebergs. In 2007 the hotel opened the adjoining Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, a fascinating museum tracing not only the life of New Zealand’s most famous climber (who trained regularly at Aoraki) but also the development of the sport as a whole.
There’s even a 3D cinema that gives you the chance to take a virtual swoop over the peak of Mount Cook. It also doubles as a full dome planetarium, with a series of literally star-studded presentations.
Book it: Kuoni offers premium rooms from £66 per person twin-share. kuoni.co.uk, 01306 747008
Marlborough Vintners Hotel, South Island
Each of the 16 villas at this hotel looks like something from an episode of Grand Designs. The one-bedroom suites are housed in low, white-walled buildings with gently curving roofs and glass walls, which look out onto the green rows of vines stretching out to the mountains beyond.
Inside, tasteful slate greys, whites and beiges with colourful accents deck the bedroom, large bathroom and expansive living kitchen, with a flatscreen TV, sofas, cooking facilities, fridge and dining table.
The hotel’s restaurant is top-notch. Looking out from the intimate room onto a grove of cherry trees, guests can dine on dishes made with local ingredients and wine from grapes picked in the few square miles surrounding the hotel. Marlborough is especially known for its fresh, easy-drinking sauvignon blancs and full and fruity pinot noirs.
This is the only luxury hotel set right in the vineyards. It sits on Rapaura Road, the main street of Marlborough wine country. The hotel can organise wine tours, or guests can just take off on the hotel’s well-maintained bikes and roll round the area. The terrain is flat enough not to be tough.
Marlborough is home to famous names – Cloudy Bay is big in the UK – and small, lesser-known winemakers such as Allan Scott and Framingham. Some of the wineries have restaurants, too, so after working up an appetite visitors can refuel.
If the call of the vine fails, the hotel will also set up food discovery tours visiting local suppliers, green-shell mussel cruises, kayaking and walking in the nearby Queen Charlotte Sound, fishing in the Wairau river, or a relaxing spa experience.
Book it: Austravel offers a one-bed executive suite from £47 per person per night, valid until September 30. austravel.com, 0800 032 5492
Chateau Tongariro, Tongariro national park, North Island
This grand dame sits on the lower slopes of the vast Mount Ruapehu, and looks across the valley towards Mount Ngauruhoe. The latter starred as Mount Doom in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films.
It’s the setting that really makes this hotel special, slap bang in the centre of the Tongariro national park in North Island. The road circles round this mountainous area, and the hotel is accessed by a long, straight track leading nowhere other than Whakapapa Village, a misleading term for the small cluster of buildings around the hotel.
There are some inexpensive motel rooms, a few campsites and a small shop, but the chateau dominates both the landscape and the accommodation options here.
Built in 1929, the Georgian structure was designed to mimic the Canadian resort of Lake Louise, and the hotel is filled with sepia prints of stylish ladies in 1930s fashion taking tea on the terrace.
Despite some updates, this is an old-fashioned hotel, with heavy fabrics and forest colours in the rooms and a chandelier hanging above the crisp white tablecloths of the restaurant and the bar.
Some of the furnishings are starting to look a little tired, so it doesn’t have the flawless finish of many of New Zealand’s other luxury properties. The hotel has changed with the times, however. There’s a 60-seat cinema, a basement plunge pool, tennis courts and the highest nine-hole golf course in New Zealand.
The idea is to get out and about. In summer, there are beautiful walks that can be as easy or strenuous as your clients wish. A popular full-day option is to walk up to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. At 12 miles it can take six to eight hours and requires a decent level of fitness.
In winter, the hotel sits right at the foot of the Whakapapa ski fields – the largest in New Zealand.
Book it: Anzcro offers a Run of House room from £126 per room per night. Price valid until September 30. anzcro.co.uk, 01872 266899
The Langham, Auckland, North Island
From the lobby’s humungous chandelier, dripping with crystals and hanging over an equally gargantuan flower arrangement, to the darling pink and gold branded toiletries, the Langham offers a touch of bygone-era class.
The 410 rooms are layered with gold and dusky-rose velvets, dark woods and marble, creating an elegant 19th-century look, with embossed stationery and other special touches.
The 70 Club Rooms not only offer extra space, fruit and mineral water delivered daily, butler service and free use of the business centre, but also access to the fabulous Club Lounge on the 10th floor.
Club clients can take their breakfast here, nip in for tea, coffee and snacks, enjoy drinks and canapes between 5pm and 7pm and even pop back later in the evening for a special dessert buffet. With gilt-edged tables, striped upholstery, a comprehensive wine list and views out over Auckland to the sea, it’s tempting to spend more time than is truly healthy there.
The rooftop pool is an ideal spot to unwind, and the large Chuan Spa opened in 2009, offering a mix of Asian and French therapies. There’s a 24-hour brasserie with a special Sunday brunch menu and a Friday night seafood buffet, a relaxed bar restaurant, a fine-dining Italian and The Winery, a chic lobby bar with a towering wall of vintage bottles and a tempting afternoon tea menu.
Though just a short walk from the city centre, the hotel runs a free hourly shuttle bus to and from the harbour, which is particularly useful on the way back, which is uphill. There’s also a fleet of Lexus hybrid limousines, which can make that painful journey to the airport pass in style.
Book it: Cox & Kings offer Club Rooms from £210 per night. coxandkings.co.uk, 020 7873 5000
