Luxury lodge in Collingwood

OFFERS CLOSE on Tuesday [December 10] for a fivestar luxury lodge near Collingwood that originated as a maternity hospital.

The 610-square metre Zatori Retreat, at 2321 TakakaCollingwood Highway, is being sold as a going concern.

It’s on a flat, 6451 square metre site overlooking the lower reaches of the Aorere River as it feeds into Golden Bay’s Ruataniwha Inlet.

The sale includes all furniture, fittings, artwork, manchester, marketing collateral and forward bookings.

Tracey Walker, of Bayleys Nelson, says the multi-faceted waterfront lodge sleeps up to 30 guests and has two wings, with the lounge and foodservice space the hub of the premises.

Each wing offers different pricing options based on room quality. In the upmarket wing, nightly rack rates range seasonally from $229 to $399; in the budget wing, they range from $60 in a bunk bed-configured room to $210 for a family unit sleeping up to four people.

The core of the property was built in 1942, as the Joan Whiting maternity hospital, and in 1970 was converted and extended to become a rest home and doctors’ consulting rooms.

It was reborn as Zatori Retreat in 2014, when the buildings were refurbished into 13 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms.

It has expansive flat lawn, which has been used for a helicopter landing pad for corporate and wealthy guests, while the central lounge can be configured to seat 60 guests for functions and meal service (the business is fully licensed).

‘‘Zatori Retreat’s marketing has been structured to attract both free independent travellers, and eventspecific clientele for the likes of yoga and wellness short-breaks,’’ Walker says.

‘‘The dual-wing configuration allows for the business to market its rooms to several price-brackets simultaneously – sitting in the market above the ‘backpacker’ category, and below the high-end boutique $1000-a night accommodation providers.’’

Zatori’s commercial-grade kitchen has two ovens, 10 gas burner hobs and a bar that can be partitioned off during conferences and functions.

The central hub space has three toilets and a wheelchair-accessible shower.

The lodge’s commercial-grade laundry, linen storage, manager’s office and two staff bedrooms are in the budget accommodation wing.

It also has six guest bedrooms, three bathrooms, an additional kitchen and lounge, and an owner/ manager’s apartment.

Produce is sourced from the lodge’s own organic vegetable gardens and orchard, and chicken run.

Zatori Retreat runs off roof water with large underground water storage tanks and connects to the local water supply when needed, enabling a reticulated water back-up supply over the summer months.

All water is filtered through commercial filters.

The former hospital’s electricity generator guarantees power supply in the event of emergency power outages, Walker says.

Guest amenities include a woodfired sauna room with doubleglazed windows overlooking the river estuary, and an accompanying freestanding cold-water bush shower.

A separate private corner contains a heated romantic twoperson bathtub.

‘‘With 13 bedrooms capable of accommodating up to 30 guests, along with self-contained food and beverage service options, Zatori is in a different class from much smaller B-and-B type operations,’’ Walker says.

‘‘It consequently attracts a strong leisure clientele from throughout the Tasman region.

‘‘The Takaka-Collingwood Highway is located directly on the sole vehicular route to Farewell Spit and Wharariki Beach, which are widely regarded as two of New Zealand’s most remote beaches.

‘‘It is also sandwiched in between two national parks – Kahurangi and Abel Tasman – making it a fantastic base for exploring.

‘‘As a result, the business tracks a high percentage of two-night bookings from guests staying before and after their day-long return journey to the end of the highway.’’