Set high above New Zealand’s Northland coast, Rosewood Kauri Cliffs stretches across 6,000 acres of rolling farmland, native forest and rugged shoreline, the Pacific flashing blue between pōhutukawa and pine. Somewhere beyond, the Cavalli Islands punctuate the horizon. Closer in, sheep graze, fairways disappear towards the cliffs and narrow tracks wind down to beaches of white sand and tiny pink shells.

Despite the scale of it all, there is something remarkably intimate about Kauri Cliffs. It doesn't exactly feel like a traditionally grand hotel – more impossibly beautiful country estate, albeit one with a championship golf course, spa hidden among native bush, horses waiting in the paddock and a kitchen turning the spoils of Northland into a menu that changes with the day. It’s polished without feeling overly polished; luxurious without losing sight of the landscape that makes it so.

It’s this balance that interior designer Tamsin Johnson returns to. On her most recent visit to the hotel, she brought the family, taking up residence in a villa where doors opened onto a saltwater pool and the Pacific beyond. Days unfolded between horseback rides to the beach, ATV expeditions across the estate and long walks beside the sea; evenings around plates of local snapper and a cold New Zealand beer.

I stay here because... Rosewood Kauri Cliffs is properly secluded and has more of that feeling like you’re visiting a friend’s rural property – it just happens to have a golf course, restaurant, spa…etc. It has a natural, bristly sort of beauty to it and yet groomed in all the right places. It feels as N.Z. should feel...

My last visit was... November 2025 with the family. Not the last visit.

What I love about the room… We had the villa and it was so comfortable, and comforting; again it had that sense of a friendly homestay but with all the trappings of service. The saltwater pool with the Pacific in view was a huge boon. Access to a courtyard that felt, dare-I say, Jurassic Park (I guess I could just say Jurassic, but…).

Amenities worth a mention… Apart from the more obvious things like the spa, pools, and golf course, I really loved the ATV tour. It is an enormous property and so private and pretty breathtaking, so to really get the full picture is great. A bit of adrenaline seems necessary in N.Z.

It’s the details that count... Horse rides to the beach with the kids were, of course, very memorable. The staff are pitch perfect, natural, and suit the establishment.

Room service order... Crispy skin snapper, but the whole restaurant menu changes daily so I can’t promise it. The healthy, protein-energy snack offer is exceptional.

What to expect in the mini bar... Head for the local beers, they are crafty but not dirty crafty.

Places nearby worth visiting... Waiaua Beach! Heavenly, and the bigger Matauri Bay for a longer beach walk. It’s quite isolated but the property is vast so you needn’t really leave.

The one thing I always return home with is... more love for N.Z. There is a special breed of sparkling optimism only Kiwis possess and it is uplifting and ought to be shared.