Greytown: An ugly duckling turns into a swan

Greytown's White Swan Hotel was the national category winner for commercial buildings last year. Photo / Supplied

An unloved railways administration building has been transformed into a beautiful country hotel, writes Diana Balham.

A few years ago, Greytown's main street of rose-swathed historic cottages and homesteads was rudely interrupted by a service station that might have been practical but was never pretty. Now, the Wairarapa's most photogenic town - and New Zealand's oldest planned inland settlement - boasts a large, beautifully proportioned two-storey country hotel in that spot.

The White Swan looks as if it has always been there. Its patrons, sipping drinks at outside tables, could be updated versions of travellers who stopped there for refreshments 150 years ago.

But until recently, it was an unloved and ugly-coloured railways administration building in Lower Hutt. Still possessing fine bone structure, her potential was realised and the old girl was sliced into six pieces, to be transported over the Rimutaka Ranges to start a new life.

However, the flight of the Swan was to be no light undertaking. The Rimutakas are a formidable barrier between Wellington and the Wairarapa, often hammered by gale-force winds that roar and funnel their way from the capital to the plains on the other side.

One of the segments fell off the truck in a stiff breeze and, by some miracle, failed to career down the ravine, but remained teetering on the lip of the road until it could be retrieved. The road was closed for six hours.

In Greytown, the bits were put back together and the ugly duckling began her year-long transformation. Today, the hotel is elegant in white and powder blue, with a lilac dining-room, a sophisticated bar and an already famous row of pastel-painted toilets. It was the national category winner for commercial buildings in last year's Registered Master Builders House of the Year Awards.

But you have to go upstairs to find the real charm of this place. In a sort of Changing Rooms frenzy, local interior designer Michael Nalder gave each of the seven rooms a distinct personality, so you can make like a New York sophisticate in the Madison suite, pretend you are Master of the Hunt in the Hunter room, go all Eastern in the Mandarin or indulge your passion for all things Indian in the Bombay room.

Then there is the lilac-and-white elegance of the White room, the traditional English George and the Raj-inspired Ruby.

Why he drew the line at a Finnish sauna room, an Eskimo igloo room or a Mongolian yurt suite can't be said, but it works surprisingly well, especially if you have a couple of rooms and can flit between them, comparing furnishings and ornaments.

We have the Bombay and the Ruby - both Indian-themed, but while one is bedecked with gorgeous jewel-coloured saris and monkey cushions, the other is rich and sumptuous, with a dark red tasselled canopy over the bed and a chandelier dangling from the ceiling. It's all good fun and the rooms are spotlessly clean and well-appointed.

Sunday afternoon is a good time to stroll up Main St and browse in the shops. The Wairarapa is close to the capital, yet has a distinctly different vibe. It has blossomed in recent years into a perfect weekend destination for weary, windswept Wellingtonians, and those from further afield.

Apart from its extraordinarily successful winegrowing reputation, the region draws visitors for its recreational and relaxation possibilities.

The Rimutakas to the south and the Tararuas to the west are great drawcards for trampers and hunters, and the wild Pacific coast to the east is a terrific place to let your hair blow back or cast a line and catch a fish.

Greytown is the prettiest town imaginable. It is hard to believe that people live here and buy things like dishwashing liquid and bread, given the enormous number of antique, craft, specialty gift and food shops that line the streets.

Almost every building is historic and, at this time of the year, roses foam and stray over each gatepost and veranda and peonies bloom in the immaculate gardens.

It has an air of unreality about it, as if we are walking in a museum town where the lights are switched off each evening and the doors closed on the tableaux.

But real people come and go and get on with their lives. This is a working town, after all, supporting a bustling agricultural region with Featherston, Carterton, Martinborough and Masterton.

We eat our Sunday dinner in the hotel dining-room: a special three-course, set-price meal for $29.50 which is less flash than the usual a la carte menu, and then head for our rooms.

I am looking forward to stretching out on my tigers-prancing bedspread and watching telly by the light of the chandelier.

The next morning we choose the Main Street Deli for breakfast and sit out the back in a garden redolent with roses and other pretty things. We have coffee and muffins and friands and the meal is delicious.

As it's Monday, Greytown has sprung back into weekday mode and people are going places and looking less like extras in a period drama.

Then we stroll around the shops again and I buy two completely unnecessary things from Walterwoods Antiques, which is crammed with beautiful objects.

We meet a friend and drive to a vineyard for lunch: Murdoch James Estate, just out of Martinborough, has a splendid cafe in the winery with a view of the river and a strange water feature.

We drink Blue Rock riesling and dunk our bread in the dips and listen to the wind in the poplars. A beautiful weekend is turning into a stormy week, with wind warnings for the Rimutakas. If we don't blow off the road driving back to Wellington, we'll have plenty to tell the folk back home.

CHECKLIST

Where to find it: The White Swan Country Hotel is on Main St, Greytown. Phone: (06) 304 8894.

What to do: Murdoch James Estate is on Dry River Rd, Martinborough, and is open daily for wine tasting.. Phone: (06) 306 9165. The cafe is open daily during the summer. Events can be arranged and accommodation is available at the Winemaker's Cottage.