Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Rotorua's Lakes Lodge sells up under pandemic pressure

Nick Berryman photographed at the Lakes Lodge in August 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner

The owners of Rotorua wedding venue Lakes Lodge have made the call to sell up, saying their business is "just another Covid casualty".

Nick and Richelle Berryman have owned Lakes Lodge at Lake Okataina for the past 12 years and are feeling "a bit empty" about the decision to sell.

But Nick Berryman says there is "no prospect or hope" of business improvement.

"We are tired. We are over the daily grind of having to be here to be at the call of everybody without any reward.

"There is no hope because of the uncertainty."

While he did not disclose specific detail, Berryman said a local entity had purchased the lodge and it would no longer be used as a wedding venue.

"The way the lodge has been run for the last 97 years is no more. New Zealand public has lost an iconic venue."

During 2019/2020, Berryman said the venue hosted about 23 weddings but in the 2021/2022 season only three were booked.

In his view, "no one has any confidence going forwards" because of the changing Covid restrictions and regional lockdowns.

"The Government is flipping daily on restrictions. When you shut Auckland and Hamilton, everything is affected."

Nick and Richelle Berryman have owned the Lakes Lodge for the past 12 years. Photo / Supplied

Berryman also shut the doors of his jet boat tourism operation - Riverjet - for at least 18 months in March after losing 85 per cent of international visitors because of border closures.

He told the Bay of Plenty Times the pair would "love to open" again when there was a "flow of international visitors".

"Until then it is unsustainable."

The pair were now looking forward to being semi-retired and having "some adventures and a bit more personal time".

But he said semi-retirement had been "bought on prematurely by Covid".

"We are another casualty - it is clear and simple".

Highlights of their 12 years of owning the lodge included meeting people, hosting "amazing events" and having the lake all to themselves, he said.

Some guests had been returning to the lodge for about 40 years with many "repeat customers".

They had also hosted "hundreds of weddings" while owning the lodge and had generations of families come through its doors.

"We have made a lot of very close friends through the lodge."

Berryman still fondly remembers hosting the BMW Motorrad in February 2020, when 200 people from 23 countries stayed at the lodge.

The Berrymans would host their "last wedding ever" on January 3.

"Nothing is forever. Things just change and take their natural course. It is sad for us to be leaving here but it is one chapter of our book closed," he said.

Owners of a Tauranga wedding venue also made the "difficult decision" to close in September after being "hit hard" by Covid-19 restrictions.

Waimarino Group director Blair Anderson. Photo / Supplied

Waimarino Group director Blair Anderson previously said Waverley on Wairoa had been "haemorrhaging" since the first round of Covid-19 lockdowns last year.

"The funds are drying up. So we are having to make a hard call, and now it just becomes like downtown Tauranga - empty buildings," he said.

The function centre based at Waimarino Water and Adventure Park closed at the end of November.

The Wairoa riverside venue, which could hold about 150 people, was unable to operate with alert level 2 restrictions in place.

"Numbers have dwindled right down. Covid-19 has taken a toll on another business, another livelihood, as well as the mental stress that goes along with it."

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was approached for comment.