Which New Zealand lodges and hotels have earned Michelin Keys

Nineteen New Zealand properties hold Michelin Keys, the distinction the Michelin Guide awards to the world's most remarkable places to stay. Seven carry two Keys, "an exceptional stay", and twelve carry one. The full New Zealand selection is below. For what the Keys are and how they are judged, see our companion guide, The Michelin Key: what it means for New Zealand's luxury lodges.

Two Michelin Keys — "An Exceptional Stay"

Properties judged destinations in their own right: distinct character, considered architecture, and service of rare consistency, each in a setting only New Zealand could supply.

• Huka Lodge, Taupō — the lodge that began New Zealand's luxury-lodge tradition, set where the Waikato River narrows above Huka Falls.
• The Lindis, Ahuriri Valley — a low-slung timber form that follows the line of the valley floor, built for solitude in the Southern Alps.
• Rosewood Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's Bay — a clifftop lodge on a working sheep and cattle farm, high above the Pacific.
• Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, Matauri Bay — ocean views to the Cavalli Islands, with a championship golf course running along the coast.
• Blanket Bay, Glenorchy — timber and schist at the head of Lake Wakatipu, where the mountains close around the lake.
• Otahuna Lodge, Tai Tapu — a restored homestead of 1895 near Christchurch whose potager garden supplies its kitchen.
• Wharekauhau Country Estate, Palliser Bay — an Edwardian country house on a working sheep station above the Wairarapa coast.

One Michelin Key — "A Very Special Stay"

Auckland and surrounds

• The Hotel Britomart, Auckland — New Zealand's first 5 Green Star hotel, built in brick in the harbour-end laneways of the city.
• Park Hyatt Auckland, Wynyard Quarter — on the waterfront, with some of the largest rooms in the city and the harbour at the window.
• Hotel Fitzroy curated by Fable, Ponsonby — a villa hotel of ten rooms in one of Auckland's most interesting inner suburbs.
• Delamore Lodge, Waiheke Island — above the cliffs, looking back across the Hauraki Gulf toward the city.

Queenstown and Central Otago

• Eichardt's Private Hotel, Queenstown — a gold-rush era building on the town's original lakefront.
• Rosewood Matakauri, Queenstown — facing the Remarkables across Lake Wakatipu, a short drive from town and a world away from it.
• Azur Lodge, Queenstown — nine freestanding villas with floor-to-ceiling views of the lake.
• Stoneridge Estate, Lake Hayes — stone buildings among vines at the quiet end of the Wakatipu Basin.
• Gibbston Valley Lodge and Spa, Gibbston — a lodge set entirely within its own winegrowing valley.

Regional New Zealand

• Eagles Nest, Russell — private villas along a ridgeline above the Bay of Islands.
• Solitaire Lodge, Lake Tarawera — a lakeside lodge in Rotorua's geothermal and cultural heartland.
• Bay of Many Coves, Marlborough Sounds — reached only by boat or helicopter, which is the point of it.

Several of these properties anchor The Masterpiece, our definitive New Zealand journey.

The Keys are also not the whole story. New Zealand's depth in lodges and boutique stays runs well beyond one guide's selection, and many of the country's most remarkable properties sit outside it. If you are weighing where to stay on your own journey, talk to us for recommendations matched to your route and season.

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Distinctions from the 2025 Michelin Key announcement. The Guide's inspectors write about all nineteen properties in their own feature on New Zealand's best places to stay; the selection updates periodically.