Need to know
Rooms
Twelve, including four suites.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible subject to availability. Check-in, 2pm.
More details
Rates include breakfast and dinner.
Also
In-room spa treatments are also available if all that monumental nature gets the better of you.
At the hotel
DVD library, free WiFi throughout, guest Mac computer, hot tub, sauna, gardens. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD and CD players, iPod dock, minibar, Evolu, Living Nature
and Lavish toiletries.
Our favourite rooms
For a cool canopy experience, the modern, wood-clad Tree House Rooms, set in a manuka grove remote from the main lodge, are a must. The five one-bedroom Upper Branch Rooms, perched 10 metres up in the treetops, are the most romantic and private with wraparound windows ensuring neck-swivelling views of mountains, sea and roaming deer from the spa bath, seating nook (complete with wood fire) and deck. Smaller, more affordable Lower Branch Rooms sit below, or book into one of the Family Tree Houses, an interconnected hybrid of the two.
Poolside
An outdoor swimming 25-metre lap pool with poolside seating. Hot tub, sauna and pool house (with showers and a changing room) are due to be completed in the near future.
Packing tips
Binoculars for deer spotting and whale watching; a head for heights if you're staying in a Tree House room.
Also
The lodge’s knockout 600-hectare grounds, between the towering Kaikoura Seaward Mountains and surf-lashed Mangamaunu Bay, include the family farm’s oil-producing olive grove and deer stud.
Children
Welcome in the Family Tree Houses and Olive House Apartment; only those over 12 in the main lodge rooms. Baby cots available for NZ$50 a night (free for under-3s); extra beds NZ$262.50 a night including breakfast (both subject to availability on request).
Overview
Welcome in the Family Tree Houses and standalone Olive House Apartment; only those over 12 in the main lodge rooms. Baby cots available for NZ$50 a night; extra beds NZ$115, including breakfast.
Best for
12-year olds and over.
Recommended rooms
Kids of all ages are welcome in the Family Tree Houses and Olive House Apartment; only those over 12 in the main lodge rooms.
Activities
Mountain biking in and around the hotel's grounds and gardens should prove a hit, as well as nature walks. Kids at both Bambi and 'birds and bees' stages of development will love the lodge's own deer stud and there are majestic beaches nearby for running about, paddling and the odd game of sandy cricket.
Swimming pool
There's an outdoor pool and hot tub for kids to enjoy, although it's not solely for children.
Meals
Children are allowed in the hotel's restaurant at all times, and a children's menu is available. Hapuku is happy to provide high chairs, packed lunches or heat up food or milk for babies on request. The Olive House Apartment has its own kitchen if you'd rather self-cater.
No need to pack
Baby cots, which are available for NZ$50 a night; high chairs.
Also
Extra beds for older kids cost NZ$115, including breakfast.
Sustainability efforts
The lodge uses solar power, sources its food from local farmers, rangers and fishermen with sustainable practices, and has an ongoing campaign to restore the natural habitat (1,400 new native trees have been planted on the grounds to date).