Luxury Lodges · The Ridge
Cape Kidnappers
Hawke’s Bay, North Island
A golf course that finishes on the edge of a cliff, and a gannet colony below.
The Lodge
Cape Kidnappers stands on a ridge above the Hawke’s Bay coast, on a six-thousand-acre working sheep and cattle station that ends in the dramatic cliffs the cape is named for. It is the middle child of the three Robertson lodges, now under Rosewood, and the one with the most theatrical setting.
Tom Doak’s golf course runs out along the fingers of the ridge with fairways that appear to stop at the edge of the sea; it is routinely ranked among the finest in the world. At the tip of the cape sits one of the largest mainland gannet colonies anywhere.
We place Cape Kidnappers when a journey wants wine country and coast in one move. Hawke’s Bay’s vineyards and Art Deco Napier are half an hour away, and the lodge itself is content to feel like a very grand farmhouse.
The Lodge, In Pictures
The Owner's Cottage living room at Cape Kidnappers
The Practicalities, Honestly
The Nights It Deserves
Two. Three if you golf, or if the wine country pulls harder than expected. It usually does.
Who It Suits
Golfers and wine people; couples who want drama without altitude. The farm and the gannets make it quietly good for older children too.
When To Go
Hawke’s Bay is one of New Zealand’s sunniest, driest corners. October to April is reliably kind. February and March catch the vintage.
Getting There
A short flight from Auckland to Napier, then forty minutes by car; the lodge has its own helipad.
From Our Notes
What twenty-five years of placing guests here has taught us
01
The Ridge suites are worth the upgrade for the sea aspect; the four-bedroom Owner’s Cottage sits apart with its own pool for families or a group travelling together.
02
The guided farm drive out to the gannet colony is the thing not to skip — a working-station ride to a cliff edge alive with thousands of birds. Time it for the season (roughly November to February) and tell us in advance.
03
Do the wine country with a guide who can open the cellar doors that do not advertise. Craggy Range sits almost below the lodge, but the smaller Bridge Pa growers are the better afternoon.
How We Place It
Cape Kidnappers pairs naturally with Wharekauhau to its south — two working stations, two coastlines, no repetition — with Martinborough’s pinot country strung between them. Northward it hands back to Huka and the central plateau.
Cape Kidnappers, placed properly
A lodge is only ever one piece of a journey. Tell us what drew you here and we will design the days around it: the right nights, the right season, the right hands.
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