Deluxe villa views of Mount Hutt at Terrace Downs. Photo / Thomas Bywater
Deluxe villa views of Mount Hutt at Terrace Downs. Photo / Thomas Bywater
Thomas Bywater stays at Terrace Downs, Canterbury
Location: Overlooking the Rakaia Gorge at the foot of Mt Hutt. A cruisy 60 minutes from Christchurch through the Cantab plains.
Style: Early 2000s golf resort. But don't hold that against it. The green abuts on to the Southern Alps, the ribboned Rakaiariver and everything that comes with that.
Price: $470 per night for the two-room villa with kitchen, breakfast included.
Perfect for: Putting addicts to indulge, guilt free. Or, a deluxe late-winter ski escape.
First impressions: Terrace Downs is not so much a country club as an entire country hamlet. With no fewer than 50 villas, there's a strangely suburban feel to the 2001 Sid Puddicombe-designed resort.
Driving in, it's as if you're entering a gated community for argyle sweater owners. Which might have been a fair assessment until recently.
As a teeing off point, golf is hard to ignore. The 18-hole course takes up much of the periphery.
For die-hard caddies, you'll find few flags with backdrop quite as dramatic. Though, admittedly for some, golf can be a bit of a turn off.
The new owners are keen to break links with the old resort and bring in a more casual crowd through new food and adventure offerings.
CPG have planned a refurb under their luxury Fable brand; think Dunedin's Wain's Hotel and Ponsonby's Fitzroy.
Dining at the Clubhouse gives the impression it is on course to deliver on this ambitious pitch, but for now remains in the in-between.
Terrace Downs resort in front of Mount Hutt. Photo / Thomas Bywater
Rooms: Sweeping views of Mt Hutt take up the entire side of the villa. Just as well, there's a balcony and sliding windows to let it in.
In one of the chalet cul-de-sacs on the 150 hectares of golf course, the "Deluxe villa" sits atop a garage to give the room an interrupted view of the Snowdon valley. The living space and kitchen are separated by a counter and there's plenty of comfy seating for after a day out on the hills or walking the course.
With a smaller, slightly darker bedroom at the rear of the house, also with an ensuite bathroom, there's plenty of space for four - 115 square metres of space, in fact.
However the master bedroom is delightfully light and odd. Leather panelling at the headboard of the King bed isn't very modern, but it is very generous with materials.
Continuing the Western theme, a set of shutter windows open into the spa bath like saloon doors.
Food and drink: The interior of the Clubhouse is all antlers, chandeliers and exposed stone panels. So far, so high-country cliche. However, there are some surprises. The flamethrower-fed fireplace, for one.
Head Chef Scott Buckler and head of house Philippa have done a lot to turn around the menu in a remarkably short time. Of course you'll find the favourites: the Canterbury high-country trinity of local meats - beef, venison and salmon. This is Methven, after all. But there's no steak frites et sauce tomate.
Even the cauliflower steak with romesco sauce had the hearty presentation of a brasserie meal. Home-cured Gravlax, tenderised in gin and lemon and the sous vide pork fillet on a buttery potato pave were particular highlights.
Even if you have no interest in the putting green, the food is a hit.
Breakfast was included in our room rate. Salmon Benedict with hot smoked fish and rich hollandaise sauce. Delicious.
Schooting instructor Neil at Terrace Downs, Rakaia. Photo / Thomas Bywater
Accessibility: The Clubhouse restaurant is certified accessible however accommodation options are not. Villa door width and bathrooms do not qualify as wheelchair accessible.
In the neighbourhood: Eight minutes away from Mt Hutt, winter sports is a given. Judging by the mucky windows of some of the other guests' cars, they'd already been up the ski roads and were now unwinding. However you needn't go up the mountain for adventure.
Following an English springer spaniel to the bottom of the tree line, you'll find his owner Neil and an assortment of targets. The result is delightfully eccentric.
The shooting instructor (formerly of the Royal Berkshire Shooting School) has set up a clay shooting and archery course at the club boundary.
With three stands and multiple traps, it is a small patch of the London shooting school in Methven. Albeit with a much better backdrop. Under the careful supervision of Neil and the judgemental gaze of Ted the liver and white spaniel, you'll have your marksmanship put to the test.
