4 Best Hotels in Golden Bay and Takaka, Upper South Island and the West Coast

Here, a short walk across soft grass from your luxurious, fully self-contained villa or studio unit gets you to your own quiet beach. Sunsets are sometimes enhanced by blue penguins arriving home from a day out fishing. During the day you can swim, kayak, or paddleboard (complimentary boards and kayaks are available). At night the doors and windows can be left open so the sound of the sea lulls you to sleep. Rates include a breakfast hamper crammed with fresh, local produce, and full housekeeping service, or you can opt for the "independent rate."

Well-appointed cabins and motel units, with various bedding configurations and some with full kitchens, are set on 5 beachfront acres with plenty of trees for shelter. You can get closer to nature on a tent site, or park your campervan on a powered site. The park's shared facilities (kitchens, bathrooms, laundry) are modern, spacious, well laid-out, and lacking for nothing in appliances. Feel free to enjoy the balmy evenings and cook on the barbecue outside. The well-stocked Pohara Store nearby means you will make fewer trips to town for supplies. 

Just a two-minute walk from Pohara Beach, this inn has striking adobe and tile construction, wide verandas, a turf roof, and a touch of Mediterranean decor. There's a small (and popular) restaurant, focusing on local-grown organic foods; you can take breakfast and dinner here, but be sure to book ahead. The big communal bathroom is adorned with subtropical plants, and the garden abounds with grape and kiwifruit vines and big leafy shade trees. The rooms are truly comfy, light and airy, though all but one (which is self-contained) share the large bathroom complex.

A small but stunning lodge nestled on a small peninsula beside the Pakawau Estuary, Twin Waters overlooks the surrounding hills and wetlands. Despite the very Kiwi environment outside, the lodge rooms have international themes, with names such as Shanghai, Zanzibar, Safari, and Naigani, decorated with artwork discovered on your hosts' winter travels. Rooms are stylish and elegant, with curved timber ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. Rates quoted include breakfast supplies, which guests can prepare at their leisure in a beautiful modern shared kitchen. Dinner can also be prearranged.