Doing business in the lap of luxury

The original Huka Lodge in Taupo, pictured from the falls.

Huka Lodge, legendary for luxury accommodation, is stretching its wings, writes Gill South.

New Zealand business has seen some amazing deals play out in the past year: Transpacific's $780 million takeover of Waste Management, Burns Philp's Uncle Toby's brand selling to Nestle for close to $1.1 billion, and Rank Group's US$2.1- billion challenging tender offer for the entire ordinary share capital of SIG Holding.

We'd all love to have been a fly on the wall at some of these powwows. And it is highly likely that some of these multi-million dollar deals were hammered out at Huka Lodge near Taupo.

Although the proprietors are much too discreet to let on which companies entertained either their predators or their prey at the exclusive resort, it wouldn't be surprising to hear that Telecom had wooed newly-named CEO Dr Paul Reynolds at this hallowed spot. Pure conjecture, but it doesn't take a huge leap to imagine it. He is a Brit - formerly with BT Wholesale - so Telecom had to sell him on New Zealand, after all.

What corporates like about the Huka Lodge is its discreetness, its exclusivity and the high quality of its amenities, which aim to make the client feel they are treasured.

It has won a number of international accolades in the world press - Travel + Leisure magazine ranks it the number-one resort in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

The food and wine are second to none and there are relaxation facilities on hand to help executives recover from the essential 20-hour days that come with mergers and acquisitions. Trout fishing can put people in a can-do frame of mind, it would seem.

Having won a loyal following from national and international high flyers - the Queen herself is said to visit when she can on her trips to New Zealand - Alex van Heeren, owner of Huka Retreats and a shipping and banking magnate, is expanding the Huka Retreats brand.

In 2005, he opened a Huka Retreat at a new location in South Africa, the Franschhoek wine valley. The luxurious resort, Grande Provence, is an hour's drive from Cape Town and, close to the grape growing area of Stellenbosc, it has its own winery.

Now the third of van Heeren's resorts, Dolphin Island in the Fijian Islands, is to receive a complete makeover. It will close for a year from October and will add four new bures to the existing two and owner's cottage, with all the mod cons, as well as a new main lodge building nestled next to an infinity pool on the beach.

"Now that he's created the other two locations he wants to do something with Dolphin Island, [leveraging] off the Huka brand,' says sales and marketing consultant Louise Smythe. The resort owner is hoping to attract getaway meetings and smaller ventures, she adds.

The Huka Lodge in New Zealand has traditionally been the one that most local corporates visit, although the development of Dolphin Island may change that.

While wealthy Americans and Europeans arrive in their private jets during the peak season from December to March, the rest of the year belongs to New Zealand and Australian clients, says Smythe.

She says that in the off-peak periods, corporates find the rates surprisingly affordable, starting at $695 plus GST per person per night double/twin occupancy. "This time of year it is half price, it is much more achievable and we are getting a lot of small, highbrow meetings," says Smythe.

CEO-level clients go for small meetings and intimate strategy sessions, she says. It's also a popular destination for luxury brand launches, she adds.

A lot of its business clients don't want to be seen, and are very quiet about what they want to do, she says.

"It's almost an incentive to try for that next big deal. A few days and nights in the lap of luxury."