Hapuku Lodge + Tree Houses

Hapuku sits on a family deer farm a little north of Kaikoura, on the narrow strip of land between the Seaward Kaikoura range and the Pacific. The signature accommodation is five tree houses raised ten metres into a grove of native kanuka, each a proper room with a fireplace, a deck among the branches and an outdoor bath. Four lodge suites and a three-bedroom olive house complete the property.

The design is unusually good - copper, recycled timber, olive groves, a lot of glass - and it was built by a family of architects and furniture makers rather than a hotel group. Rates include breakfast and dinner, cooked with the farm's own venison, Kaikoura crayfish and produce from the kitchen garden.

Kaikoura is where the continental shelf drops away close to shore, which is why sperm whales, dusky dolphins and albatross are there year-round. Whale watching boats, swim-with-dolphin trips and seal colony walks are all within fifteen minutes. There is an outdoor pool and hot tub facing the mountains.