Rosewood Kauri Cliffs

The golf course came first. In 2000 the American investor Julian Robertson opened eighteen holes on farmland above the Pacific in Northland, and in 2001 a lodge followed on the same ridge near Matauri Bay. Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, as the property is now called, looks over the ocean to the Cavalli Islands from the far north-east of New Zealand's North Island, a part of the country better known for kauri forest, orchards and quiet bays than for grand hotels.

History

Robertson founded the New York investment firm Tiger Management in 1980 and became one of the best-known hedge fund managers of his generation. He kept a long attachment to New Zealand, and Kauri Cliffs was the first of three properties his family built there. Cape Kidnappers in Hawke's Bay and Matakauri Lodge outside Queenstown came later, and for years the three were marketed together as the Robertson Lodges. Robertson died in 2022. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts then took over the management of all three, and each now carries the Rosewood name.

The land is a working farm of around 6,000 acres, with sheep and cattle grazing between the fairways and the native bush. That scale shapes the stay. Guests share a very large estate with very few other people, and the nearest neighbours are the farm's own paddocks.

Architecture and design

The main lodge is built in a colonial plantation manner, a long house with deep verandas facing the sea and the course. Inside, the rooms are arranged for lounging rather than display: a bar, sitting rooms with open fires for the cooler months, and a dining room that opens onto the veranda. Guests do not sleep in the main building. The suites sit in separate cottages along the edge of the bush, which keeps the lodge quiet and gives each suite a degree of privacy.

Rooms and suites

Every room at Kauri Cliffs is a suite, each with its own veranda and a view across the course towards the Pacific. Larger parties can take the Owner's Cottage, a separate house that suits a family or a group of golfers travelling together. The style is restrained, with timber, linen and pale colours, and the windows do most of the work.

Dining

Meals are served in the lodge, and the rate has traditionally covered breakfast, pre-dinner drinks and dinner, a model shared by the other Robertson properties. Menus change daily and draw on Northland's fish, shellfish and farm produce, with New Zealand wines on the list. Lunch can be taken on the veranda or packed for a day on one of the beaches.

Wellness

The spa stands apart from the lodge in a grove of totara trees, reached by a path through the bush. It has treatment rooms and a fitness area, and the lodge adds a pool on the main lawn and tennis courts. Most guests find their exercise on foot, on marked walks across the farm and along the coast.

Location

Kauri Cliffs lies between Matauri Bay and Kerikeri, in the Far North of the North Island. The estate runs down to the sea in several places, and three beaches lie within its boundaries, the best known being Pink Beach, named for the colour that crushed shell gives its sand. The golf course, designed by David Harman, is the main draw for many visitors: fifteen of its holes have views of the ocean, and six are played along the cliff edge, with the Cavalli Islands offshore.

Kerikeri, with its airport, cafés and citrus orchards, is the nearest town. The Bay of Islands, with Russell and Paihia, lies further south and makes an easy day out by car or by boat. Kerikeri Airport has regular flights from Auckland and the lodge arranges transfers; the drive from Auckland takes several hours. As a luxury resort in Northland, it offers something rare even in New Zealand: a whole coastline of farm, bush and beach with only a few dozen guests to share it.