A VERY NICE LIFE

Meet Terry Parkes, New Plymouth’s

Mr Nice Guy

TERRY PARKES’ CHARACTER is as colourful as the many coats in his closet. He’s also superbly connected and can tell you exactly where to go - in the nicest possible way - which is precisely what’s required in a hotelier. “I can tell my guests where to find a great coffee, a fresh bagel, the new blue shirt they’ve been shopping for, or which beautiful gardens to visit - even those closed to visitors. I’ve been around here such a long time and know all the stories.”

Terry himself is an integral part of the Taranaki scene. He’s undoubtedly one of the city’s best-known figures, involved as he is in many community projects. Besides being chair of the local Arts in Public Places Trust, Terry supports a long list of projects and endeavours. He’s on the fundraising committee for the restoration of the Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary, just across the road from his hotel. He supports school lunches for hungry kids, and contributes to sprucing up the local cemetery - and that’s to tick off but a tiny few.

He’s so motivated that in 2017 he received the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit award for services to the community, business and the arts. It sits nicely alongside his citizen award from the New Plymouth District Council, and his Kiwibank Local Hero medal.

He’s also very much the type to cringe at seeing this all written down, so don’t think for a second Terry does it for the accolades. He does it because this is his city, his community. A question about his links to New Plymouth elicits one of Terry’s multichromatic phrases. “If a cat has kittens in the oven, you don’t call them ‘scones’, do you? I’m from Eltham, really, but a local boy? Yes, I am.”

Over his life, Terry has worn many mantles. In 1984, he opened an Italian restaurant, Bellissimo, with friends (while also while working in menswear, and at a hotel at night.) Bellissimo heralded his start in hospitality. He later sold the eatery and took over the area’s first vegetarian restaurant, Steps. “I thought I was a vegetarian, but now I eat meat. I couldn’t live without meat,” he adds in an undertone.

THESE PAGES: Each room at the Nice Hotel has a theme, but all contain the essentials well-traveled Terry knows a guest wants — a big bathroom and comfortable bed, double glazing, and the latest technology. “I want to be able to walk into a hotel room and not want to change anything,” he says; (below) Terry stands in the library, where guests can relax, sip a complimentary sherry, read a book, or gaze out at the Cathedral Church of St Mary across the road.