New Zealand Luxury Properties

I had the opportunity to go on a Virtuoso study tour and stay at or tour a large number of properties in May. Most are in the Virtuoso network, some are not. This thread will take me a while to write as I think I have 10 or so to do, all with pictures! I will do a new post for each property and try to have it knocked out in less than two weeks.There are quite a few places I did not get to see, like Minaret Station, Kauri Cliffs, Edenhouse, Split Apple, and more. I will be visiting again next year and will add to this thread at that time.

I already posted about St Mary's Residence in Auckland and Annandale, outside of Christchurch, so I will not do either of those again.

Annandale, near Christchurch, NZ
Site Inspection: St Mary's Residence, Auckland, NZ

First up,Delamore Lodgeon Waiheke Island (not Virtuoso)

Delamore is one of two luxury properties on Waiheke Island with The Boatshed being the either one. I did not get a chance to see The Boatshed, but I do know it comes highly recommended. They were fully occupied and had a special event, so I wasn't able to visit even briefly.

Before I get into the property details, a little about Waiheke Island. Waiheke is a quick 35 minute ferry ride from Auckland or a 10 minute heli ride. Waiheke is known for its wines and has fantastic restaurants and wine tasting available. It is very popular place for Aucklanders and they said the population jumps to 45,000 in the summer while only 8,000 in the winter. My favorite stop on the island was Mudbrick. Fantastic wine and food.

Delamore is a boutique property, nestled away from town up on the hillside above Owhanake Bay. To walk to town is 15 minutes or so or taxi's are available. The property features 4 rooms and one 2 bedroom apartment. Breakfast is included in the rate, but dinner is not, although it can be arranged if a guest wants to dine on site. They have their own gardens including citrus trees and an olive grove on site. The property was built on 10 acres and designed for the luxury market and finished in 2002. It is very quiet as it neighbors a protected area. If a guest would like to do a heli transfer, they can land on the property, which is what we did.

The general feel for the property is very quiet, relaxed, lots of curvy lines, and a focus on the outdoors. I almost want to say it has a bohemian feel. Everything faces out to the bay with large windows. The view are really quite stunning. I will let the photo tour do most of the explaining.

We started with the two bedroom apartment, which is a high elevation that the individual rooms. The main building is two story (apartment on top) with the spa beneath it. The other rooms, or villas, are all a separate building below.

This is the kitchen and living space in the apartment:


Patio off the kitchen:


Views from the kitchen:


A better view of the living room space:


The smaller of the bedrooms:


It's bathroom, which featured a shower:


The larger bedroom (it was tight taking photos to not have me in the picture for all of these rooms):


The view standing in the doorway looking out:


The bathroom, with a soaking tub instead of shower:


Vanity:


You can see from the photos, the bedrooms were not overly large. With it being an apartment with the kitchenette, living room, and patio there is plenty of space to spread out, but the rooms themselves were not huge.

Beneath the apartment is the spa. I loved the hot tub room - a guest is greeted with eucalyptus as you enter. The spa was cast in concrete and the door opens to the outside, if desired, or one can just look through the large glass windows and door.



Massage room next door:


This picture is the walkway between the four rooms and the spa area:


This is one of the common rooms with the kitchen being in the far back right corner, behind the wall. Guests can take breakfast here or just relax anytime.


Same room, looking the other direction:


This is only a partial view of the kitchen:


Next up, one of the four guest rooms:


And looking out towards the patio:


Partial bathroom view:


The rest of the bathroom:


They do have a small closet:


Delamore does a top rated infinity swimming pool:


This is more of an event space. Our large group enjoyed tea and nibbles in it:


This room can be combined with the outdoor space leading up to it by opening up large glass doors to create a larger space:


Additional information: I completely forgot to look at the toiletries, so I do not have anything to report there. The pictures do not photograph the concrete very well - it is nicer than it looks. I am very curious to see The Boatshed as I hear, in general, men prefer it and women prefer Delamore.