Mount lodge fetches more than $2m

By Graham Skellern
The selection of luxury accommodation at Mount Maunganui has suddenly shrunk following the sale of Puerta Del Sol for just over $2 million.
An Auckland business couple has bought the four-bedroom Mexican-styled lodge in Oceanbeach Rd and will be using it as a family holiday home.
The lodge has been owned and operated by Ross and Paula Greenville for eight years and has hosted wealthy guests such as American actor Kevin Sorbo and world Formula One motor racing champion Nigel Mansell.
The Greenvilles will be entertaining their final guests this weekend.
"We are leaving with mixed feelings but we are very happy it's been sold to people who appreciate it," said Mrs Geenville.
"It all happened pretty quickly. They came down twice to look at it and they loved it."
Puerta Del Sol, overlooking the ninth green of the Mount Maunganui golf course, has a spa and swimming pool, garden wine cellar, art studio and reading room.
The Greenvilles are building a house in Denarau near the golf course and will be spending up to eight months living in Fiji and the remainder of the year at the Mount. The loss of Puerta Del Sol means the choice on the coastal strip - a popular holiday destination - is down to two luxury lodges, Thornton and Augusta, operating just down the road in Oceanbeach Rd.
There is also upmarket accommodation in the Papamoa Beach Top 10 Holiday Resort villas and in the Marine Parade apartments such as Cutters Cove Resort, Pavilion and Oceanside Twin Towers.
There has been plenty of activity amongst Western Bay luxury lodges lately.
Tinopai Lodge on a 5ha property at Omokoroa was sold earlier this month for $8.7m and the surrounding land will be subdivided in to prime waterfront sections.
The 960sq m, eight-bedroom dwelling has not been used as a lodge for nearly two years and the new owners may consider turning it in to a health and spa resort.
Bella Vista Lodge in Ohauiti and Cassimir in Pyes Pa are also being operated by new owners, and Cassimir has been renamed The Hart Lodge.
Bella Vista, which struck resource consent problems, is now owned by Peter and Lorraine Crisp and has four guest suites.
The previous owners were ordered to shut down their functions, including weddings and conferences, by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council following a dispute over the interpretation of the resource consent.
Mrs Crisp said "we never lost the consent for luxury accommodation and we are now going through the process of being allowed to host weddings and conferences."
Bella Vista can handle up to 200 people for social functions and daytime conferences. Ridge Country Retreat on the hill overlooking Welcome Bay is planning to expand its accommodation by building six split-level luxury suites, each of them including a spa bath, plasma television, and a hot tub located outside in a private garden.
Building could start in September and when the suites are completed the lodge will be able to accommodate 22 people instead of the present 12.