New Zealand’s leading wine-tourism resort Craggy Range has opened a new luxury lodge on its Giants Estate vineyard in Havelock North.
It’s one of a string of new luxury and budget accommodation offerings confirming New Zealand’s status as a global leader in wine tourism.
Historic Huka Lodge, a New Zealand favourite that began as a fisherman’s camp in 1924, has reopened after a $23 million renovation.
The new Craggy Range Lodge can sleep up to eight guests in four ensuite bedrooms and has a large living area with a fireplace.
It was designed by Simon Clarkson Architects who made use of natural stone and timber.
The Lodge has views over the Tukituki River and Te Mata Peak.
Craggy Range, hailed recently for its award-winning pinot noir and chardonnay, also offers travellers stays in one-and-two-bedroom cottages and units.
The rooms are an easy walk to Craggy Range restaurant where Casey McDonald is said to offer Michelin Star-standard dishes like lamb loin tartare, crayfish tortellini in a bisque sauce, confit duck leg, and wagyu beef.
Huka Lodge is set in a 7ha garden on the banks of the Waikato River near Lake Taupo on New Zealand’s North Island.
A makeover included new floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize the views.
The lodge has changed many times since it opened 102 years ago as a fishing lodge before it was converted to a Scottish Highlands-style hotel.
One of New Zealand’s newest lodges, Flockhill, is set on a working 14,500ha sheep station in the Southern Alps in the Craigieburn Valley in Canterbury on the South Island.
Flockhill is basking in the glory of being named one of Time Magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places of 2026” for tourism.
The historic homestead has added seven standalone villas each with fireplaces and mountain views.
Flockhill’s open-plan kitchen and dining room, Sugarloaf, has won acclaim and offers an upscale “Chef’s Table” dining experience with treats including wild hare, venison, and eel.
The lodge offers fishing, rock-climbing, horseback riding, and e-biking and has a new wellness spa with hot and cold plunge pools facing Sugarloaf Peak.
There have also been upgrades to The Landing Suites a set of sophisticated holiday lodges in the Bay of Islands on the Purerua Peninsula overlooking Rangihoua Bay.
Set in a sloping 13ha vineyard it, too, is a magnet for wine lovers.
The Landing Vineyard and Winery offers tastings of syrah, chardonnay, sangiovese, pinot gris, montepulciano, malbec, cabernet franc and merlot.
West Coast New Zealand’s Trail’s End Punakaiki Beach Camp is offering stays in “The E’scapes”.
These are three plush holiday homes named Treescapes, Seascapes and Cliffscapes.
They are close to walking trails and surrounded by native flora.
New Zealand Tourism is also promoting more affordable holiday options in so-called “flashpacker hostels”.
LyLo sleeping pod hotels have opened in Auckland and Christchurch. Haka House in Queenstown is an affordable hostel with both private rooms and dorm beds.
A new hotel in Auckland is Horizon by SkyCity.
The architects honoured Maori mythology designing a curvaceous building in the shape of a pohutukawa leaf from New Zealand’s showiest tree noted for its blazing red flowers.
The 15-level hotel with dark timber and polished tile interiors is linked by a series of airbridges to a lively entertainment complex with a casino, a theatre, bars and restaurants.
Another hip new hotel is Hotel Britomart which has been described as “an oasis of luxury” in the Auckland CBD.
It’s billed as New Zealand’s first hotel with a five-star green rating.
It has 99 timber-lined rooms and an exterior made from 150,000 handmade bricks.
Where to eat in Auckland?
After running the Michelin-starred The Musket Room restaurant in New York for seven years, chef Matt Lambert and his wife Barbara have returned home to open a restaurant in fashionable Ponsonby in the inner-city.
A panoply of New Zealand seafood and meat dishes available in a la carte and a tasting menus.
Dining and Cooking