The Farm at Cape Kidnappers

The Farm at Cape Kidnappers. I will start this review by saying this was one of my absolute favorites on the trip, yet one where we stayed the shortest amount of time. It was almost perfect.

Cape Kidnappers, also known as CK, is a 6,000 acre working sheep and cattle farm about 20 minutes outside of Napier. The Art Deco capital of New Zealand, Napier is also home to some pretty stellar vineyards too. The property itself offers amazing 180 degree views of the Pacific Ocean.

Before even seeing the lodge, we took a farm tour. This is an activity offered to guests and quite fun to do. Ours was an abbreviated one due to our time constraints, but the highlight of the tour was seeing the gannet colony. I have never seen a gannet before and they were not afraid of us taking pictures.





The property has a main lodge with some guests rooms with the remainder being villa style and a short walk. It is important to note if a guest has mobility issues, the villas are down a small hill, so it is best to be in the main lodge, if that is the case. Accommodation is offered in 22 guest suites and a four bedroom owner's cottage.

The lodge and villas are way up in the distance. This picture is at the front gate to the property.


A very partial view of the main lodge:


Standing at the lodge, looking out:


The main lodge overlooks the farm land, golf course, and Pacific Ocean and is the host to the guest lounge, a library, wine cellar and multiple dining options.

The rate includes breakfast, pre-dinner drinks, canapes, and a 5 course gourmet meal. This is the area we enjoyed drinks and canapes.


The patio is where we took breakfast, but guests also dined here for dinner.


I believe this was called the TV room or something similar:


Every day, multiple international newspapers were out for guests.


This room was so hard to photograph and was a favorite of my group. The room is shaped like a grain silo and has a fireplace in it. After dinner, we retreated here and snuggled up with the blankets to have drinks, conversation, and enjoy the fireplace. The door closes, creating a fun little place to disappear.


The wine cellar was quite lovely, although I can't find anywhere in my notes how many bottles it hosts. CK is the only property I visited with a dedicated sommelier on staff - the others all have a food and beverage manager.





The property has an infinity pool (although I didn't see it), miles of trails for hiking or mountain biking, a gym, spa, and lots of tour options. One fun thing to do is a kiwi tracking evening. The property is helping with kiwi conservation and has trackers on the birds. Guests can help track a kiwi the team needs to check on and be part of the process.

I had a massage after our farm tour, so I did not take any facility pictures of the villas until dark. I had a tour of the four bedroom owner's cottage before retreating to my room to get ready for dinner. Here is the front entrance of the cottage after walking in the front door:


When you walk in and turn left, you enter the kitchen, living space, and onto one bedroom, if memory serves correctly. Turning right leads to the other bedrooms. Let's start with the kitchen.


Dining area:


Living area:


Some fun decorations:


In this picture, to the left is the kitchen and I am standing by the living area. You can see down the next hallway to the other rooms.


The bedrooms are all very similar with just little changes between them.


All rooms have a fireplace.




During the day, the views from the bathroom (and bedroom) are stunning.


Split double vanity. The toiletries are CK branded.


All rooms have a separate closet.


In the cottage, there are little seating areas tucked throughout.


This was the room I stayed in, villa 17.


One important part of this property I haven't mentioned yet is golf. Cape Kidnappers is home to a top 100 in the world golf course. The course is a par 72 Tom Doak designed links style course. If you are a golfer, it is a must do. The views are simple amazing while on the course. Guests do receive a discount on tee times.

I really loved my time at CK. My only complaint was we were only there about 16 hours, so I didn't have a chance to really explore. The dinner was fantastic - one of my favorites on the tour and I even got to try some John Dory fish, which was new to me (and very good). The wine was excellent and in the rooms, I loved the bed/bedding, the shower, and in the minibar was a little jar of brownie bites and cookies that I think are the whole reason they put in a gym at the property. They really do run a world class resort and a rate reflecting the level of service. CK is owned by the Robertson family, who also owns Matakauri (review coming up) and Kauri Cliffs (I did not see on this trip).