Policies
Accessibility
What this building can do, what it cannot, and who to telephone so that nobody arrives to a surprise. A 1937 building on a hill has limits, and they are listed here rather than discovered on the day.
Reviewed February 2026
1. Arriving and parking
Three accessible bays sit beside the front door, under cover, with a level path of nine metres to the entrance. The drive is sealed and has a gradient of about 1 in 14, which is steeper than ideal and is the reason those three bays are where they are. A vehicle can pull up at the door itself to unload at any time.
The front entrance is step-free and the door is automatic. A second entrance from the car park has one 140 mm step and a permanent ramp beside it.
2. Getting through the building
The lift serves all three floors and the bath house level. The car is 1,100 by 1,400 mm, takes a wheelchair and a person with it, and has tactile buttons and voice announcement. Corridors are 1,300 mm wide at their narrowest, at the join between the 1937 block and the north wing.
There is an accessible toilet on the ground floor beside reception, and a second on the first floor by The Totara Room. Both have a grab rail on the transfer side and an alarm cord that reaches the floor.
3. Rooms
Eight rooms are step-free from the car park through to the shower — four Silver Fern and four Understorey, all within twenty metres of the lift. Each has a roll-in shower with a fold-down seat, a bed at 500 mm, 900 mm of clear space on both sides, and lever handles throughout.
Two of the eight have a ceiling hoist fitted between the bed and the bathroom. Both should be booked by telephone so the desk can check the track runs where you need it, because the two rooms differ.
What we do not have: an adapted bath, and a hoist in any suite. The suites are all on the upper floors of the old block and the structure will not take the track.
4. Restaurant, bar and event rooms
The Milling Room, The Bridle Path Bar and all three event rooms are step-free from the lift. Tables at 720 mm are in both rooms; ask when booking and one is held rather than found. The terrace has a 40 mm threshold with a portable ramp kept behind the bar — ask, and it takes a minute.
Menus are available in large print at 18 point, and a member of staff will read a menu aloud without being asked twice.
5. The bath house
Step-free from the lift. A pool hoist serves the upper pool and needs an hour’s notice so it can be moved into position. Both changing rooms have a bench, a grab rail and a curtained cubicle. Two treatment rooms have a height-adjustable table.
The lower pool and the cold plunge are reached by four steps with a handrail and there is no hoist to them. The sauna has a 60 mm threshold.
6. The gaming room
The Rimu Room is step-free from the lift and the corridor. Two machine positions have no fixed stool and take a wheelchair directly, and the blackjack table at the end of the row has 730 mm of clearance underneath. The room is carpeted and the lighting is even rather than pointed.
Entry is 20 and over with photo identification, as it is for everybody. A support person who is not gambling may accompany a player, at no charge, and does not need to produce identification to sit with them if they are not entering the gaming area itself.
7. Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs are welcome everywhere in this building except the kitchen, at no charge, with no notice required and no documentation asked for. Water and a bowl are at reception. Telling us in advance only means the bowl is in the room when you arrive.
8. Hearing, sight and communication
A hearing loop covers the reception desk and The Kauri Room; portable loops are available for the other two event rooms. Fire alarms are audible and visual in the corridors, and a vibrating pillow alarm is available for any room — ask at booking, there are four of them.
Signage is high-contrast with raised numerals on room doors. Staff are used to writing things down, and there is a pad on the desk for exactly that. New Zealand Sign Language interpretation for an event can be arranged with a fortnight’s notice; the cost is ours for a hotel event and yours for a hired room, and we will say which applies before you commit.
9. This website
Written to meet WCAG 2.1 level AA as far as we can test it. Every page works from the keyboard, headings run in order, images carry alternative text, contrast has been measured rather than guessed, and text resizes to 200% without losing content. There is a skip link at the top of every page.
Known gaps: two of the tables on the rates page scroll sideways on a narrow screen, and the entrance animations, while they respect a reduced-motion setting, are not switched off entirely. Both are on the list for the next round of work.
10. Telling us what is missing
If something here is wrong, or something you need is not listed, telephone the front desk on +64 3 337 4180 at any hour, or write to [email protected]. We answer within five working days, and where the answer is that the building cannot do it, that is what the answer will say.