Akaroa Bed And Breakfast

Akaroa boasts world top-10 B&B | Stuff.co.nz

Akaroa lodge Maison de la Mer has been recognised for its ability to pamper guests who have continued to seek out the petite bed-and-breakfast despite the unsettling earthquakes in the region.

Maison de la Mer was recently named among the top 10 "to-die-for" inns and B&Bs in the world, according to Trip Advisor.

Maison de la Mer is run by Bruce and Carol Hyland, who have had 20 years of experience in the business, having had two similar properties in Devonport, Auckland, and nearly eight years in Akaroa, where the residence sits out over the waterfront.

Bruce Hyland said that within two weeks of receiving the award from the travel guide authority the lodge's website had received 13,000 additional visitors.

With only four guest rooms, the B&B has to capture only a tiny percentage of the more than two million visitors New Zealand gets each year to operate.

It was the responses of people who had stayed at the B&B that decided the winner of the award. "There is a huge amount of work because we're working at a five-star level. We really do offer a huge amount of personal service to our guests.

"We have a lot of complimentaries, we have an evening cocktail hour with guests before they go out to dinner."

While there is a winter low season, the business worked reasonably well with stand-in operators last year.

Christchurch and Canterbury tourism has taken a battering since September 4 and Hyland said some tourism operations in Akaroa had suffered from the downturn associated with the quakes.

However, Maison de la Mer continued to do well, with forward bookings helped by those visitors that needed alternative accommodation after hotels in the city were cordoned off.

Hyland said the main reason tourism operators failed was because they held too much debt and had high interest costs, rather than the temporary effects of things such as earthquakes, he said.

"The travel trade is still operating and I think it's way too early to really get extremely negative on the prospects for the coming [summer] season," he said.

"We're booking around normally now and I'd expect that South Island tourism will be down a little bit, but not hugely."

The Maison de la Mer building was built in the arts and crafts style in 1910. It features intricate carved wooden details in the central hall, and many art nouveau stained glass windows – all of which have survived the years and earthquakes, although a chimney has had to be replaced.

The New Zealand Bed & Breakfast Guide

Lonely Planet New Zealand

New Zealand's South Island

Traveler's Companion New Zealand, 3rd

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