Larnach Castle Lodge Dunedin

Larnach Castle is a good place to either stay at or just go up for the day or part of.
We decided at the last minute to stay there for 1 night. There were only 2 rooms left in the Lodge which has 12 themed rooms and is on the seaward side of the castle. We had the Scottish Room. It had an ensuite and a balcony.
The other type of accomodation is the Stable Stay which is a converted coach house built in 1871. It has Six bedrooms with shared bathrooms.
A cooked breakfast is included in the overnight stay and in served downstairs in the Stables. Very nice.
Also included in the price you can wander around the castle and its grounds.
There is also a gift shop and in the Ballroom there is a cafe. The Ballroom can be hired out for functions.
If you are staying overnight, you can also book to have dinner in the castle dining room. Well worth the experience. Due to a gate malfunction we were late getting in for our stay but they held the dinner back a bit for us. It started with pre dinner drinks in the drawing room and then we went to the dining room for a 3 course meal. Because of the problems with the gates and Andrew helping to open them, our drinks were complimentry.
William Larnach built the castle for his first wife. Construction began in 1871 and it was 3 years before the family moved in. The building was completed with the addition of the Ballroom in 1887 which was built on as a 21st birthday gift to his daughter Katie. The castle is set on 35 acres and overlooks the Otago Harbour. It is about a 20 minute drive out of Dunedin.

Looking for something a little different from your every day hotel...then this might be the place for you.

Lanarch Castle is located on the beautiful Otago peninsular 30 minutes from the city of Dunedin on the south island. The surrounding area is scenic with albatross and penguin colonies near by. There are two options of accommodation - themed rooms or stables.

The ride up to the castle is a little hair raising (winding roads up and over the peninsular) but worth it once you arrive. Entering through the gate you will see lots of trees and vegetation and following the road you will come to pristine landscaping and finally a first view of the castle.

The lady at the gate asked to stop at the bottom of the steps leading to the main entrance of the castle. As soon as we pulled up a lady (wearing a long tartan skirt) opened the door to greet us. After checking us in and giving us directions to the stables and she met us at the stable doors.

Leading us through the stables and past the one horse...OK a large model of a horse...and up the stairs she showed us to our room. After pointing out everything...including a shared fridge with a bottle of milk for tea/coffee...she asked if everything was to our liking. That was a first!

The upstairs of the stable has been converted into 10 rooms with shared toilets, showers and a small reading area. The toilets and showers are more like you would find in a gym though they were very clean and served their purpose. Our room had a double bed and two twin beds and towels, toiletries and extra blankets were provided.

The downstairs still looks like a stable with one stall being used as a reading/TV area and another had a very old computer supposedly hooked to the internet for a price (it was not working when we were there). And don’t forget the stall with the horse!! The other part has been converted into a kitchen and dining area where they serve a full made-to-order breakfast which was included in the price of our room. It is very rustic and all in keeping with the ambience.

The castle is not actually a true castle but a large family home built to resemble one. Built in 1871 by a rich businessman, by the 1960's it was sitting in ruins before the present owner purchased it in 1967 and over the years restored it to as close to the original plans as possible. The main building of the castle is now a museum which is free to hotel staying guests. There is also a gift shop and a cafe open during the day.

Optional: 3 course dinner in the castle dining room sitting a large table with other hotel guests. The menu is usually Scottish themed. The cost is around NZ$60 (US$45) per person and though expensive, the food, the experience and the ambience made it well worth it.

All of the staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful. The lady that checked us in was also our dinner host/server. She was very knowledgeable about the hotel and told us stories including one about a stable room being haunted (not ours thankfully).

I would recommend this place to anyone wanting something a little different than a generic hotel stay. I only have two negatives for this place. One being the internet not working - especially if want to research local activities. The other is that for those not wanting to pay the high price for dinner there are no other options other than to drive back down the winding road and into Dunedin. One hour roundtrip and even more scary in the dark!!!

And one last thing…the weather can be temperamental here. When we visited it was cold and rainy and at one point the clouds hid the views of the peninsular. However it gave the castle and gardens a kind of mystical feel. I just wish the sun would have been out when we made it out to the roof.