A look at luxury
Pihopa Retreat’s pool area.
If money was no object and a luxury holiday in Nelson-Tasman was on your radar, you’d probably be booking a night in one of the region’s stunning and often-little-known luxury accommodation providers. While many of us may not even be aware these lodges exist, Adrienne Matthews takes a look inside at some of the very best in our region.
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n a few months tourists will start to flock back to our part of the world and among them will be the rich and famous, some of whom will be spending thousands of dollars a night on accommodation and thousands more experiencing the very best of Nelson-Tasman. Having worked especially hard during the last few years of Covid to attract New Zealanders to their facilities, accommodation owners are optimistic about the future. Tracee Neilson, the visitor destination manager for the Nelson Regional Development Agency, says there are good summer bookings coming in from overseas tourists. “This is a really important part of our local tourism industry that flies completely under the radar,” she says. “Tourists who stay in this type of accommodation are very private so not much gets talked about it, but they contribute a substantial amount of revenue to many businesses in the region. Not only do they stay in the high-end luxury accommodation, but they also spend on adventure tours, art, wine, food and the like. It is encouraging to see them beginning to come back to our shores.” Clifftop Retreats in Aporo Road, with its spectacular views out into Tasman Bay, has had its share of local Nelson people to stay but it looking forward to overseas tourists coming back. “[Locals] love that
they can drive a short distance from home and be in a completely different world”, says owner Bob Haswell. At Clifftops, an architecturally-designed, purposebuilt cottage is set amongst a huge garden that, after a twenty-one year labour of love, resembles an arboretum. Special touches include a unique shower with two of its walls being windows into a native garden, while a skylight over the bed showcases the night sky in all its glory. A luxurious clifftop spa and treatment room, provision of beautiful robes, alpaca throws and a selection of delicious treats, including local wine and beer, are much appreciated touches. Westhaven Luxury Retreat perched on a hilltop above the Whanganui (Westhaven) Inlet, south of Farewell Spit and with the Tasman Sea crashing on beaches on the western side, is another that has welcomed many New Zealanders, in part, due to its location. Austrian immigrants Bruno and Monika Stompe fell in love with the four hundred hectares of land in 1991 and have put their luxury mark on it with buildings constructed from timber, enhanced by a hundred tonne of Otago schist and with recycled rimu and teak on the interiors. Aided by daughter Monika and her husband Tomas Vratil, the family manages the luxury accommodation which includes a heated indoor swimming pool, hydrotherapy spa and infrared sauna.
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