Mr & Mrs Smith

Otahuna Lodge

Christchurch, New Zealand

Live like a lord at historic Otahuna Lodge near Christchurch, Canterbury. Any trace of fustiness has been swept from the hotel’s wood-panelled rooms and replaced by urbane hosts, smart service and out-of-this-world cuisine. Whitewashed verandas, flower-filled gardens and home-grown produce complete this rural idyll – one that offers heli-tours of the region from its own lawns. 

Need to know

• Rooms Seven: all suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $829.29 (NZD1,100), excluding tax at 15 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (NZD1,100), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates include breakfast (cooked or Continental), pre-dinner drinks and canapés, five-course dinner with wine, and use of all the Lodge’s facilities.
• Facilities Spa, gym, tennis court, wine cellar, library, gardens, free WiFi throughout and a helipad. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD/CD player, iPod dock, minibar, free bottled water, Penhaligon’s toiletries.
• Poolside The heated outdoor swimming pool, shaded by fir trees, is open from November to the end of March and has views over the gardens. The smaller spa pool is open all year.
• Check-out 11am, but later check-out is possible if available. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
• Children This hotel is better suited to couples - leave the children at home!
• Eco-friendly Food really is locally sourced at Otahuna: fruit and vegetables are grown and livestock reared for the kitchen on the estate. To close the virtuous circle, any waste is recycled or composted where possible.
• Also After an afternoon on horseback, place yourself in the hands of a masseur for a 90-minute massage in what used to be the estate’s laundry room. Calm rules at Otahuna as this refined grown-up getaway only caters for children aged 13 and over.

Food and drink at Otahuna Lodge

• Hotel restaurant Dinner at Otahuna lives up to its grand surroundings: a convivial five-course tasting menu is served in the candlelit, tapestry-toting dining room. The menu changes daily and is composed from many honest, seasonal ingredients sourced from the estate, including its own prime beef. Matched wines showcase Kiwi vineyards. Expect heirloom beetroot soups, Otahuna rib-eye, succulent local lamb and exuberant desserts featuring fruit from the orchards. Breakfast is served in the country kitchen.
• Dress code Pearls and smoking jackets. But probably not at the same time.
• Top table For a private tête-à-tête, ask for the ‘turret table’ in the drawing room and get near-360 degree views through its windows. Alternatively, dine near the pool in front of a blazing fire, in the wine cellar or secluded in the little library.
• Last orders The restaurant is open until 10pm but don’t leave ordering later than 9pm.
• Room service Breakfast can be taken in bed or on your private veranda and cook can rustle up a sandwich during the day, but it’ll be you, the ticking grandfather clock and a midnight raid on the kitchen fridge if you have the munchies after dinner.
• Hotel bar Savour sherry and port in the lounge or on the veranda overlooking the gardens, or indulge in the unexpectedly extensive menu of spirits, wines and cocktails from the honesty bar.

Otahuna Lodge 224 Rhodes Road, Tai Tapu, Christchurch, 7672