2 Best Hotels in North Island's West Coast, New Zealand

Name: Ahu Ahu Beach Villas
Address: 321 Ahu Ahu Rd., Oakura, Taranaki, 4374, New Zealand
Telephone: 027-365–7739
Price range: $$$

Bed-and-breakfasts are often stylishly converted country homesteads; sometimes they're custom built. There are also luxury lodges and a wonderful range of self-catering villas and cottages (some on working farms, others with spectacular coastal locations, and a few deep in the forest-covered hinterland). National parks have mountain lodges, river lodges, basic backcountry huts, and camping spots managed by the Department of Conservation.

In tourist towns and larger cities, there's the full range of options: boutique hotels, standard hotels with basic rooms, motels with full kitchens, holiday parks with RV sites and sometimes apartment units, as well as backpacker hostels. Although hostels are generally budget options with shared facilities, an increasing number are modern and feature private en suite rooms.

Ahu Ahu Beach Villas

$$$ | 321 Ahu Ahu Rd., Oakura, 4374, New Zealand Fodor's Choice

These rustic yet chic studio and one-bedroom villas sit on a clifftop with stunning views of world-famous surf beach Oakura. The villas are built of recycled 100-year-old French clay tiles and hardwood wharf piles. For bigger groups the "underground" villa, built against a bank and capped with a grass roof, offers two queen bedrooms, two bathrooms, and space to host a party. All units have cooking facilities, the owners provide breakfast on request, or you can drive five minutes to Oakura Village and its many cafés.

Iona Tiny House

$$$ | 52 Puketi Dr., Whanganui, New Zealand Fodor's Choice

This unusual accommodation started life on the South Island in 1924—as a boat—which the current owner found, moved to Whanganui, turned it on its side, and embedded it into a hill as an exclusive accommodation overlooking the river and city. It's self-contained with a bathroom, hot tub, pool, and kitchenette, and it's less than a mile across a bridge to the city's restaurants and cafés. The tiny house is also right on the edge of the Mountain to Sea cycling trail and Whanganui's Round the Bridges walk.

North Island's West Coast

North Island's West Coast

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