New Zealand luxury accommodation has developed its own character, especially over the last 20 years. Originally there was Huka Lodge, a lovely place of style and character evolved from a fishing lodge. This was a sanctuary of quality amidst a desert of cheap motel rooms where it was considered a luxury if you had a room to yourself. Over this time, Huka Lodge developed and brought true 6-star service to New Zealand. Huka Lodge then went through a period over the last few years where it's formal approach wasn't delighting clients as much. New management has put that right and this season we are starting to promote Huka again.
About ten years ago, Huka Lodge started spawning imitators which means we now have 7 or 8 of these extreme high quality "superlodges". These have become a highway for luxury clients and sometimes attract criticism in providing a rarefied atmosphere in which well heeled tourists on the New Zealand Tour keep meeting each other and do not interact enough with the country. We have of course addressed this with our in-depth activities programmes.
Meanwhile there has been massive investment throughout the country in quality accommodation which has resulted in the appearance of mini-lodges, micro-lodges, eco-lodges, niche lodges and pseudo-lodges! What this means is that there is now a wide variety of different price levels to choose from within that form which is a small, intimate, personal experience. Some of these provide excellent value for money at a fraction of the price of the super-lodges. Others charge a fortune for rather ordinary service.
Meanwhile, our hotels have lagged behind. There is nothing in this country which resembles a quality resort, and true 5-star hotels are few and far between. There are plenty of 3-star and 4-star offerings.
So, in selecting accommodation in New Zealand, the luxury traveller has the choice of some reasonable hotels in the major tourist centres and many beautiful lodges and bed and breakfasts throughout the country of varying quality with varying prices and identical marketing!
Rather than list all the accommodation we use or have used (a never ending task) we have put together a selection of some of our favourites here together with an honest evaluation of their strengths. There are plenty of directories which present lists upon lists of accommodation - that is not our task. Our task is to understand our clients to such an extent that we put them together with exactly the right accommodation for every single night of their stay in New Zealand.
