50. The Farm at Cape Kidnappers epitomises luxury

Live up luxury in New Zealand with its architectural masterpieces in the wildest of locations and five-star retreats with serious eco credentials: here is No. 50 of our 101 Reasons To Stop Dreaming About New Zealand And Go.

Arriving at The Farm at Cape Kidnappers is an exercise in anticipation. Breaching the gates and winding slowly through its extensive footprint of glorious Hawke’s Bay pastureland, the main lodge building is tantalisingly revealed. If you are expecting something ostentatious to match the property’s enviable reputation for sophistication and hospitality, you will need to recalibrate your idea of what true luxury is. Here it is about the experience and a level of quiet style and design that softly envelops you rather than shaking you to be noticed.

The central lodge is a solid and exquisitely appointed space, decked out in a comforting palette of neutrals contrasted with abundant wood and stone. This is where guests can come from their scattered suites, also rendered in soft, milky creams and beiges with lofty beamed ceilings, barn doors and old tractor saddles as art on the walls, to enjoy cuisine created utilising produce grown on the property and served up in the dining room, relax with a book or cosy up in the wood-and-window-clad Snug with a glass of red close at hand.

And then there’s the Owner’s Cottage, a divine four-bedroom cottage blissfully separate from the suites and accessed by golf cart. The style utilised throughout reaches its understated zenith here, with the house presenting as if ripped from the pages of an interior design magazine. But style over substance is not the code at The Farm at Cape Kidnappers; the split-level space is warm, welcoming and relaxed, and instantly feels like home. Once in residence there’s no reason to leave, given the gourmet kitchen, sun-drenched terrace space looking out to dramatic coastal vistas and the secluded hot tub with a view.

The Owner’s Cottage, a divine and secluded four-bedroom cottage (Image: Miz Watanabe)

You are going to want to venture out though to take advantage of the privileged experiences Cape Kidnappers offers its guests, including shepherding sheep on the 2400-hectare farm it sits on, forging out on a heli-hiking adventure or going on an exclusive kiwi discovery walk, helping your guide check the kiwis’ radio transmitters, weigh and measure the birds to monitor their wellbeing. After all, it’s all about the luxury of experience here.

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