About this hotel
General information
Otahuna Lodge is an 1895 Victorian mansion at Tai Tapu, outside Christchurch, and New Zealand’s largest private historic residence. Heaton Rhodes, a politician and benefactor later knighted four times, built it as a wedding gift for his wife Jessie; the couple translated its name as “little hill among the hills”. The estate once ran to some 5,000 acres, and the daffodils Rhodes bred by hand drew the public every spring for Daffodil Day. The house has received monarchs and, in 1927, the Duke of York, later George VI; in later years the house served as a monastery, a seminary and a commune.
Today its owners, Hall Cannon and Miles Refo, continue to restore the estate room by room and host guests much as they would at home. The dining room is still lined with rare gilded Japanese leather paper, kinkarakami, a souvenir of the Rhodes’ honeymoon in Japan. There are seven suites and 30 acres of historic gardens, and the lodge belongs to Relais & Châteaux; breakfast, lunch, pre-dinner cocktails, a four-course dinner with wines, a garden tour and laundry are included.
Location
Tai Tapu, Canterbury, in the South Island: pastoral country on the edge of Christchurch against the cone of an ancient volcano, with views across the Canterbury Plains to the Port Hills and the distant Southern Alps. Helicopters land directly on the lodge’s Great Lawn, and the volcanic harbours of Banks Peninsula and the town of Akaroa are within easy reach.
Spa
There is no spa as such; therapeutic massages are given in a contemporary studio on the estate.
Sports & leisure
On the estate there is a pool, a games lawn, massage, hands-on cooking lessons with the executive chef and garden tours with the head gardener. The lodge helps plan outings around Canterbury:
- helicopter flights straight from the Great Lawn
- Banks Peninsula and Akaroa, a seaside town of 19th-century buildings, with harbour cruises in an extinct volcano
- fly fishing on Canterbury’s rivers
- golf, from a nine-hole course at Tai Tapu to the Clearwater resort
- walking and cycling trails through volcanic hills, native forest and along the Pacific coast
- the TranzAlpine train across the Southern Alps
- the historic sights, parks and gardens of Christchurch
Restaurants & bars
Dinner is a four-course chef’s menu that changes every day, with New Zealand wines matched to each course, served in a secluded corner of the house of the guest’s choosing: by the fire, in the Wine Cellar, the Library or the Turret room. Executive chef Jimmy McIntyre, in the kitchen since 2004, cooks potager-to-plate: some 125 varieties of organic vegetables, fruit, nuts and mushrooms are grown each year in the estate’s potager, orchards, mushroom house and paddocks. Breakfast, with bread baked daily, the estate’s own preserves and eggs from a few metres away, is served wherever guests like, and signature cocktails and zero-proof drinks precede dinner. Only one or two tables a night are offered to outside diners.
Swimming
The pool lies on the east side of the house and catches the sun throughout the day.
Rooms
Seven suites in the main house — two master suites, Rhodes and Verandah, and five others — each with its own story and decoration: Victorian fireplaces, stained glass, Schumacher and Pierre Frey wallcoverings and work by New Zealand artists.
Rhodes Suite
The Rhodes’ former master bedroom, a suite of four rooms: a bedroom with a Victorian fireplace, inglenook seat and stained glass, an octagonal sitting room in the turret and a bathroom with a double shower and spa bath; the private balcony looks across the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps.
Verandah Suite
A bedroom with a fireplace and a deep armchair, its four doors opening onto a large private arched verandah facing the plains and the Alps; the bathroom has a freestanding bath and a fireplace of its own.
Botanical Suite
The former Morning Room on the ground floor, with a floor-to-ceiling gingerbread mantelpiece, a wood-burning fire, an east-facing bay window of painted glass and its own door to the garden.
Clark Suite
Jessie Clark’s former bedroom, once the Blue Room, keeping its pale-blue stained glass framing woodland glades, with Schumacher ikat walls, Brunschwig & Fils drapes, a wood-burning fire and a freestanding bath.
Jockey Jones Suite
Named after John Jones, the Scottish polo groom who served Heaton Rhodes for over 60 years: a bedroom hung with Pierre Frey wallcovering, a separate sitting room with a sofa for an extra guest, two bathrooms and views over the herb garden to the woodland.
Polo Suite
The former Green Room at the sunny front of the house, with an emerald lacquered entry, Schumacher sisal walls and views of the Great Lawn and the Port Hills; the largest bathroom in the house carries prints drawn from Rhodes’ stamp collection.
The Loft Suite
A suite under the gables at the highest point of the house, with green-painted timber walls, a headboard in vintage Schumacher chinoiserie, a writer’s nook, a sitting area with a sofa bed and a freestanding bath; the windows look across the Great Lawn to the Southern Alps.
Photos are for illustrative purposes only. Actual room layout, furnishings, décor, views and amenities may differ from those shown and may vary between rooms of the same category. Hotel and room descriptions are based on information provided by the property and are believed to be accurate at the time of publication, but are not guaranteed. The hotel may renovate or change its rooms, facilities, restaurants and services at any time without notice. The final details of your stay are confirmed at the time of booking. See our Terms of Use.