Twenty-seven rooms in the 1878 house and forty-one in the rear wing. Lake-cold linen, windows that open, and a pantry on every landing that costs nothing.
Twenty-seven rooms are in the original 1878 house, where the ceilings are high and the floors talk. Forty-one are in the rear wing built in 2008, where they do not.
The old house was never built to be a hotel, which means the rooms in it are all slightly different shapes and we have stopped apologising for that. Room 14 has a bay window and a chimney breast that eats a corner. Room 22 is the largest Harbour Room by four square metres and books out first. The rear wing is consistent by design — same footprint, same bathroom, same very good bed — and it is where we put anyone who has told us they sleep badly.
Every room has a king or queen bed with a wool underlay, blackout curtains that genuinely black out, a kettle with real cups, and windows that open. There is no minibar in any room because nobody used them; there is a pantry on each landing with ice, water and a decent biscuit, and it is free.
Rates below are the lowest we publish, per room per night, including GST. They rise in January and February, at Easter, over the Rhododendron Festival week in October, and on any weekend with a home fixture at the stadium. Breakfast in the Bracken Dining Room is NZ$34 a head and is included in three of the five packages.
Twenty-four rooms in the rear wing, facing into the Town Belt bush. These are the quiet ones — no street, no drive, nothing but wood pigeons at six in the morning. Queen bed, walk-in shower, a desk with a lamp and two sockets where you would want them.
Two are fully accessible, with roll-in showers and a level entrance from the lower drive.
Twenty-one rooms on the north and east faces of the old house, looking down over the harbour towards Port Chalmers. King bed, bath and separate shower, and an armchair set into the window that is the reason people book these and then book them again.
Room 22 is four square metres larger than the rest and goes first. Ask for it by number.
Fourteen suites with a separate sitting room, most on the second floor where the ceilings are 3.4 metres and the cornices survived the nursing-home years. Sofa bed takes a third guest. Two have the original marble fireplaces, unlit since 1974 and staying that way.
Seven corner suites named for Heriot Row, one street below. Dressing room, freestanding bath set under the window, and a dining table for four if you would rather eat upstairs — the Bracken kitchen will send anything on the menu up to it.
Two connect through to a Belt Room, which is how we take families of five without splitting them across floors.
Two of them, under the roof of the original house, up their own stair from the second-floor landing. Two bedrooms, a kitchen that actually works, a laundry, and a window seat cut into the north gable with the best view in the building. Minimum two nights, and most guests take four.
No lift access above the second floor — the last flight is 19 steps and there is no way around it.
New Zealand wool underlay, 400-thread cotton, three pillow types on the landing pantry shelf if the ones on the bed are wrong. Beds were replaced across the house in 2023.
Blackout curtains in every room and secondary glazing in the seventeen rooms that face Royal Terrace. Housekeeping does not knock before 9.30am unless you ask it to.
One on each landing: ice, filtered water, tea, plunger coffee and a tin of something baked that morning. No charge, no key, no minibar in the room.
Underfloor heating throughout, heated rails, and refillable bottles rather than miniatures — we stopped buying the small ones in 2019.
Wi-Fi across the house and the grounds, no login page, no charge. Wired connections in the Gable Apartments and the Bracken Library for anyone who needs one.
The pool, sauna and thermal suite at the Aramoana Spa, the shuttle to the Octagon on the half hour, parking on the lower drive, and a newspaper if you still want one.
From 2.00pm. Earlier if the room is ready, and we will hold luggage from any time on the day.
By 11.00am. Late checkout to 2.00pm is NZ$60 and free with any package of three nights or more.
Children of any age in the suites and apartments; over twelve in the Belt and Harbour rooms. One dog per room in the rear wing, NZ$45 a night, and it may not come into the dining room.
Twenty-two spaces on the lower drive, free, first come. Royal Terrace itself is unrestricted but steep and often full.
Including whether a cheaper night sits two days either side, and whether the room you have asked for is the right one for what you have described.
The gaming lounge at White Heath is reserved for adults aged 20 and over, in line with New Zealand law. Please confirm your age before continuing.
Gaming at White Heath is available on the premises only. There is no remote or interactive service of any kind. Gambling Helpline 0800 654 655 — free, 24 hours.
Access to this website is restricted to visitors aged 20 and over.
If you need to speak to someone about gambling, the Gambling Helpline is free on 0800 654 655, 24 hours a day. Need to Talk? — call or text 1737.