4 Best Hotels in Kaikoura, Upper South Island and the West Coast

Luxurious tree houses are the star accommodations here, but there’s also a main lodge with a restaurant and hotel-style rooms, plus the salubrious Olive House, a freestanding and self-contained three-bedroom suite featuring spacious dining, lounge, and bedroom areas and 360-degree views. The tree houses, made of rough-sawn timber, copper, glass, and steel, stand on stilts above native trees. Inside are freestanding baths and elegant handmade furniture. Each unit has a wide-reaching view over olive groves (the lodge makes its own olive oil) to the sea and Kaikōura mountains. A spa offers massage and beauty treatments. Rates include full breakfast and gourmet dinner.

Just outside town, this nicely laid-out site has cabins, studios, and full motel units, plus powered campervan sites and campsites to suit a range of budgets. A wide variety of guest facilities in the crammed but nicely landscaped shared areas include hot tubs, a heated pool (summer only), a trampoline, indoor/outdoor dining, a barbecue, and a clean, modern kitchen. The view of the Seaward Kaikōura Mountains is breathtaking. There are two holiday parks on Beach Road—this one is on the inland side of the road. Because it slopes away from the main road, traffic noise is minimized. Bookings are essential in summer.

A charming seaside hotel conveniently located on Kaikōura's Esplanade, at the south end of town, this quaint venue has sea and mountain views galore. Quirky décor decorates the waterfront rooms on the first floor of the historic building. Everything else is on ground level, including the courtyard rooms, which open into a gardened area. A basic continental breakfast is served daily from 8 am, and the bar offers a platter menu every afternoon until close, where an extensive champagne, wine, craft beer and martini list is also on offer.

A waterfront view is hard to ignore—even more so on the rugged Kaikōura coast—and this rather fancy apartment-style lodge is just across the road from the beach and a few minutes' walk from the town center. The suites have double spa baths, as do a few of the other rooms; three units are two stories, well-suited for families or larger parties. The apartments have good-size kitchen areas and everything for a longer stay, some with laundry.