Best Resort Hotels in New Zealand

Less than a 10-minute drive from Queenstown, but surrounded by forest, breathtaking mountains and Lake Wakatipu, the Matakauri Lodge is an exclusive boutique retreat. 11 style-forward rooms have memorable views, an iPod dock, minibar, fireplaces, terraces and Evolu toiletries. It’s homely, but up-market, with high-quality gastronomy utilising produce grown onsite as well as native meats and fish, to create a daily changing menu. And you don’t have to eat in the dining room; the lodge will accommodate romantic meals in your suite or other suitable nooks across the grounds. There’s also a bar, and a spa which incorporates indigenous ingredients into treatments.

Look out onto working farmland, rugged cliffs, rare plants, endangered wildlife and the Pacific Ocean from The Farm at Cape Kidnappers. At the Relais and Chateaux property, you can play golf at the award-winning Tom Doak-designed course, swim in its infinity pool, take a countryside picnic personally prepared by the hotel’s chef and dine in James Honore’s dining room. Each of the suites has a sitting area and a private balcony and is situated in either the Lodge Building, on the hillside, or atop the skyline ridge – there’s also a four-bedroom cottage available. The Lodge Building has a guest lounge, a library, a wine cellar and a snug.

Golfers love the ocean-side 18-hole PGA course at this Bay of Islands resort. Surfers love the waves at nearby Matauri Bay and families enjoy its three pools – one of which has an infinity edge. Couples seeking a romantic getaway can find a secluded spot for a picnic (prepared by the lodge kitchen) within its three beaches. Residences, suites and an owners cottage cater for every type of traveller, plus there’s a spa, two tennis courts, and a restaurant cooking up Pacific Rim cuisine, which is served with views of Cape Brett.

This country estate may be set on a working sheep and cattle farm, but it’s one of the most exclusive and fancy around. The Relais & Chateaux property sits above Palliser Bay. It comprises 16 cottages (one with four bedrooms and its own pool), the main lodge, a gym, Hauora Spa, a tennis court, a games room, a 24-metre indoor heated swimming pool, a library and pretty gardens. Guests drink water from a natural spring and feast on produce grown and reared on site, sumptuously prepared by the able kitchen team. Meals are akin to a high-end dinner party, with a personal feel.