The lodge is located on the banks of the Waikato River within 17 acres of parkland on New Zealand’s North Island.
The property can sleep 52 guests across 20 suites and two cottages alongside various spaces that can be used for events, with the largest capable of accommodating groups of up to 50 people.
The lodge closed in April last year for the considerable works.
Renovations included opening up the internal spaces of the lodge, an expanded River Room with floor to ceiling windows offering water views to intertwine nature more closely with the built experience, an expanded dining room, an expanded outdoor terrace with an outdoor fireplace and new huts within the lodge’s gardens which house a gym, a sauna, an ice contrast shower, a steaming plunge pool and two spa treatment rooms.
“What strikes me the most, having had the privilege to lead Huka Lodge for some 11 years, is that the new designs offer more reason for guests to spend time enjoying these beautiful spaces; dining, drinking or relaxing with a book and the view,” said Huka Lodge general manager, Kerry Molloy.
The renovations were overseen by Baillie Lodges founder, James Baillie, working with a New Zealand architect, interior designer and landscaper.
“My wife and business partner Hayley and I first stayed at Huka Lodge in the early 2000s when we were considering plans for Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island…which would become the Baillie Lodges flagship property,” said Baillie.
“Huka Lodge, its magnificent natural surrounds, the luxury of its design and the impeccable attention to detail in both amenity and service became a benchmark and central point of reference for us both as we actioned plans for Southern Ocean Lodge.
“It’s a great personal and professional honour to have completed this important redesign project for such an iconic property, and I feel it’s a ‘full circle’ moment to have had the opportunity to be involved,” he said.
Aside from Southern Ocean Lodge, other lodges in the Baillie Lodges collection include Longitude 131 at Uluru, Silky Oaks Lodge in the Daintree and Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island, all of which belong to the Luxury Lodges of Australia collective.
“Looking back to when I was first commissioned to work on Huka Lodge, it struck me as being small and intimate,” said interior designer Virginia Fisher, who also worked on the lodge for the previous owner.
“It was very simple. And its scale was quite charming. It felt like a home.
“Now, I see Huka Lodge becoming almost truer to its original self. We’re much closer to the water. We’ve still got some strong, intense colours. Again, it still feels very homely,” she said.
Baillie Lodges acquired Huka Lodge in 2021, as part of an international expansion enabled by the acquisition of Baillie Lodges by specialist travel and leisure investors, KSL Capital Partners.
“Huka Lodge is a beautiful, spiritual place, with the Waikato River creating a real energy and lifeforce on the property,” said landscape designer Suzanne Turley.
“For the wellness grounds we’ve created a space that is lush and tranquil and inspires peace; we’ve used tree ferns and white-flowered Amelanchier trees for soft, dappled light.”
