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446 MARLBOROUGH REGION •• Blenheim Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels
0 500 m
BLENHEIM
0 0.3 miles
A B To Leeways
C To Rapaura Rd (6km); D
Backpackers
Picton (28km)
(500m)
9
INFORMATION
SLEEPING
1 Automobile Association (AA).............. 1 B4
1 171 On High...................................... 8 A3
Blenheim i-SITE.................................. 2 C3
Blenheim Bridge Top 10 Holiday Park.. 9 C1
Blenheim Police Station...................... 3 C4
Grapevine Backpackers.................... 10 D3
Paper Plus........................................... 4 B3
Honi-B Backpackers.......................... 11 B2
Post Office......................................... 5 B4
Hotel D’Urville.................................. 12 B4
Travel Stop Cyber Centre................... 6 B3
Koanui Lodge & Backpackers........... 13 D4
Lugano Motor Lodge....................... 14 A3
SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
Raymar Motor Inn............................ 15 A3
Millennium Art Gallery........................ 7 B3
EATING
Bellafico............................................ 16 B4
Countdown Supermarket................. 17 B4
Pollard
Park
Living Room..................................... 18 B4
New World Supermarket.................. 19 C4
2
11
DRINKING
Cornerstone..................................... 20 B4
Suave............................................... 21 B4
6
ENTERTAINMENT
Top Town Cinemas.......................... 22 B4
To Blenheim Airport (6km);
Renwick (8km);
TRANSPORT
Nelson (116km)
Air New Zealand.............................. 23 B4
Spokesman....................................... 24 B4
2
Blenheim Train Station
& InterCity Depot
Dillons
3
15
Seymour 7
Sq
6
10
8
14
4
13
23
1
24
To Kaikoura (129km);
17 12
3
19
Christchurch (311km)
5
21
4
20 18
16
To Marlborough Provincial
1
22
Museum (1.5km);
Aquatic
Wairau Hospital (3km);
Centre
High Country Horse Treks (11km)
houses clustered around the corner of Parker
and Hutcheson Sts, Honi-B offers simple,
clean, affordable accommodation: no frills,
no expectations.
Leeways Backpackers (%03-579 2213; leeway1@
lonelyplanet.com
casual visitors. The busy backpackers section
(for workers) is an old villa with weary
facilities and mildly dank rooms, while the
newer lodge (for casual visitors) features shiny
amenities and en suite rooms.
Blenheim Bridge Top 10 Holiday Park (%0800
268 666, 03-578 3667; www.blenheimtop10.co.nz; 78 Grove
Rd; unpowered & powered sites $30, cabins $55-70, units
& motels $90-110;pis) About five minutes
north of town, this spread-out, wellequipped
holiday park has campsites by
Opawa Stream, a spa, playground and the
usual cabin/unit suspects. The communal
kitchens are winners!
MIDRANGE
Blenheim has oodles of midrange motels, with
rich pickings on Middle Renwick Rd west
of the town centre, and a handful on SH1
towards Christchurch.
Raymar Motor Inn (%03-578 5104; www.raymar
.co.nz; 164 High St; d $90, extra person $20;p) A recent
spruce-up hasn’t completely redeemed this
old-timer: tacky laminex and patterned glass
remain. Still, it’s clean enough, central, and
the cheapest motel in town.
Lugano Motor Lodge (%0800 584 266, 03-577 8808;
www.lugano.co.nz; cnr High & Henry Sts; d $115-140;p)
Handy to central Blenheim, opposite manicured
Seymour Sq, these roomy, immaculate
rooms range from studios to one- and twobedroom
units (which are more like apartments).
Spa baths, cooking facilities and Sky
TV add to the mix, and guests can use the
neighbour’s pool!
171 On High (%0800 587 856, 03-579 5098;
www.171onhighmotel.co.nz; cnr High & Percy Sts; d $115-
165;pi) An excellent, L-shaped midrange
option, painted SoCal colours with olive trees
in the car park (Motel California?). Studios
and apartments offer slick furnishings, full
kitchens and Sky TV, and some have spas.
MARLBOROUGH REGION •• Blenheim 447
WINE REGION ACCOMMODATION
The following accomodation options
are beyond Blenheim, in the Wine
Region proper.
Swampys Backpackers (Map p449 ; %03-570
2180; www.swampys.co.nz; 2 Ferry Rd, Spring Creek; dm/d
$22/52;pi) An effervescent hub for travellers
and long-termers alike. There’s a pub and
supermarket nearby, plus funky lounges, two
kitchens, tidy bathrooms and a chilled-out
courtyard. Free bikes and kayaks.
Stonehaven (Map p449 ; %03-572 9730; www.stone
havenhomestay.co.nz; 414 Rapaura Rd; d incl breakfast $145-
250;ps) A fastidiously built (and rebuilt after
a fire) stone-and-cedar B&B among the vines,
with three commodious guest rooms. Beds
piled high with pillows; dinner by request;
funky Scandinavian-style breakfast pavilion.
Antares Homestay (Map p449 ; %03-572 9951;
www.antareshomestay.co.nz; 106 Jeffries Rd; s/d incl breakfast
$150/190, d unit $200, extra person $35;pis) A
four-acre property with two en suite rooms
in a funky wing off the main house, plus a
self-contained unit (sleeping up to four)
above the garage. Benny the dreadlocked goat
watches from behind a fence. Bikes with nifty
bottle-holders available.
Vintners Retreat (Map p449 ; %03-572 7420; www
.thevintnersretreat.co.nz; 55 & 199 Rapaura Rd; d $180-
560;ps) Roomy, luxurious self-contained
villas (sleeping up to six) and smaller suites at
two locations along the Rapaura Rd ‘Golden
Mile’. Prices vary with size, season, guest
numbers and length of stay.
Old St Marys Convent Retreat (Map p449 ; %03-570
5700; www.convent.co.nz; 776 Rapaura Rd; d incl breakfast
$550-750; hclosed Jun-Aug; pis) In no way
is this place remotely affordable, but wow,
what a place! A gorgeous 1901 convent,
cut into five chunks, moved here from its
original Blenheim location and reassembled.
Renovated in sumptuous style with no
expense spared.
xtra.co.nz; 33 Landsdowne St; dm/d $21/50;pi)
Leeways feels like a huge, messy share-house.
It’s very much a workers’ hostel, and an utterly
social one at that (there’s sometimes
more than one body per bunk...). Facilities
for long-stayers are good, and the shed is
perfect for parties. It’s a couple of kilometres
north of town.
Koanui Lodge & Backpackers (%03-578 7487; www
.koanui.co.nz; 33 Main St; dm $23-26, d with/without bathroom
$70/54;pi) A big pink palace on the main
street, catering to both seasonal workers and
TOP END
Hotel D’Urville (%03-577 9945; www.durville
.com; 52 Queen St; d $165-285; p) Injecting some
chutzpah into Blenheim’s old Public Trust
buildings, the 10 dazzling rooms in this
boutique hotel are lavishly decorated and
individually themed. Downstairs is a classy
lounge bar and restaurant (mains $18 to $30,
open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily).
Food here is highly rated, with a sweeping
selection of local wines and brilliant
desserts. Impressive.
Eating & Drinking
Living Room (%03-579 4777; cnr Scott St & Maxwell
Rd; meals $8-16; h7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-2pm Sat;v)
Prominent corner café and deli, decorated
in warm tones with artistic, Franco style. It’s
great for a peppy coffee, quality breakfast or
quiche on the run.
Bellafico (%03-577 6072; 17 Maxwell Rd; lunch $12-22,
dinner $24-30; h3-10pm Mon-Sat) A mainstream,
main-street eatery with a huge wine and beer
list that makes great reading. The menu drifts
MARLBOROUGH & NELSON
Percy St
High St
Richmond St
Nelson St
Alfred St
Charles St
Arthur St
George St
Monro St
Henry St
Taylor
John St
River
Seymour St
Budge St
Pitchill St
Sleeping
BUDGET
Blenheim’s budget beds fill with long-stay
guests, working in the area’s vineyards and
orchards; hostel owners help find seasonal
work and offer reasonable weekly rates.
Grapevine Backpackers (%03-578 6062; www.the
grapevine.co.nz; 29 Park Tce; unpowered sites $17, dm $22,
tw & d $48, tr $72;pi) Inside an old maternity
home just out of the centre, Grapevine is another
worker-focussed hostel, with a brilliant
sunset deck by Opawa Stream. Free canoes;
bikes $15 per day. Avoid the three-tier bunks
if vertigo is an issue.
Honi-B Backpackers (%03-577 8441; honi-b-back
packers@xtra.co.nz; 18 Parker St; dm $21, tw & d $50;pi)
A shipshape collection of four suburban
Seymour St
Hutcheson St
Queen St
Maxwell Rd
Market St
Scott St
Parker St
ket
Mar
St
Warwick St
Dodson St
Sinclair St
Herbert St
Grove Rd
Dodson St
Redwood
St
Budge St
Freswick St
Park Tce
Main North/South
Railway
Opawa St
Opawa
Main St
Kinross St
River
Stuart St
Point Rd
Dunbeath St
MARLBOROUGH & NELSON