The pint-sized pub, with its mini dartboard, tiny piano and weeny gazette, welcomes two customers each session and they spend a total of 27 minutes inside – enough time to connect over a couple of beers but no time to stare at their phones. The pub literally travels from desolate beaches to snowy mountains (it reportedly took 25 donkeys to get it up Coronet Peak). Check the website for tour dates and bookings. 

Glide into a Jurassic landscape across the mystical waters of Lake Rotomahana on this guided kayak tour through Waimangu Valley, the world’s youngest geothermal system. As steam rises from the cliffs, keep an eye out for birds such as the weweia or dabchick, which are endemic to New Zealand. No kayaking experience required.

Perched on a hilltop 50 minutes from Nelson and within an hour’s drive of about 25 premium wineries, this sprawling off-grid villa sits where eagles soar and marvels at the same sights: emerald mountains that turn blue as they touch the sky and the mighty Motueka River, where trout as hefty as 4 kilograms await.  Falcon Brae, which sits above its sister property, the acclaimed Stonefly Lodge, has three suites, each with ensuite and cocktail bar, and a bunk room for your pilot, security guard or the kids.

There are many upsides to new hotels in old buildings. Lofty ceilings are one, confidence is another; rooms so self- assured they don’t need bling to sing. In this reimagining of Dunedin’s first hotel – Wains, opened in the 1860s – Fable has created a 50-room haven only a short stroll to restaurants, bars and cool design stores.

This cultural and education centre sits on the shores of Hokianga Harbour, the cradle of Mãori nationhood, in New Zealand’s Northland, a four-hour drive from Auckland. It’s a 75-minute multisensory event that tells the story of Kupe, the Polynesian explorer whose arrival about 1000 years ago launched the first chapter of the country’s human history.

From the moment you pass through QT’s doors on Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour, you’ll be calmed by a soothing meditation of neutral tones and subtle lighting... just kidding! This 150-room addition to the ubiquitous chain is pure QT – bright, happy and a little bit wacky. Survey the water with a cocktail in hand from the rooftop bar then pull up a chair at the in-house diner, Esther, and savour Mediterranean-style dishes, including pizza delivered straight from the jaws of a golden (of course) wood-fired oven.

It’s one thing to eat good food, another to feel good about eating it. This seafood-focused restaurant in the Hotel Britomart only does business with fishers who operate ethically or practise regenerative farming. The menu is made for grazing (oysters, green-lipped mussels, octopus carpaccio) but if you’re hungry, the pan-roasted snapper should do the trick.

Back in the 1870s, Dunedin’s editors and publishers would gather inside what was then the fairly new Wains Hotel. The hotel is now Fable Dunedin, and its restaurant, The Press Club, pays homage to that literary tradition. Breakfast and lunch have a casual vibe, dinner gets a little more ritzy but one thing remains the same: the produce is, where possible, sourced from New Zealand’s lush Otago region. Eat up. You’ll have the urge to write a review.

Small, cosy and impeccably styled, this converted 1910 villa in the inner suburb of Ponsonby is the ideal hotel for people who don’t like staying in shiny towers. There are just 10 suites – six in the original house and four in a separate modern annex – and it’s an easy stroll to hip Ponsonby Road, a strip lined with everything from gourmet food trucks to some of the best eateries in Auckland. Who needs a dining room?

Simon Levy, Gordon Ramsay’s former head chef at The Warrington in London, has opened Hali Bar & Bistro, his second eatery in Christchurch (the other is the award-winning Inati). There’s a distinct emphasis on the ocean – in both the décor and food – and a concise menu that changes with the availability of ingredients.

The 48 steel-framed modules that make up Cosa were built and largely fitted out in Vietnam with only finishing touches applied locally. Most of the 88 rooms have city views and are walking distance from local attractions. The hotel has low-energy lighting and no single-use plastic bottles for toiletries. Vision from start to finish.

The career of acclaimed New Zealand chef Peter Gordon has taken him to London, New York and home again. With his latest venture, part-cooking school, part-dining room and part- innovation hub, Gordon celebrates his homeland’s producers and shares his skills. Class frequency and cuisines explored depend on the time of year and freshness of ingredients.

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