Matakana · New Zealand
A Perfect Escape
Based atop the beautiful Matakana Valley and only one hour's drive north of Aotearoa / New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, Matakana Retreat is your off-grid sanctuary and the perfect place to land and recharge for guests from across the world.
Sitting amongst a treasured mixture of NZ native and exotic forest, the thriving bird life and song will be your main companion during your stay with us.
Only 7 minutes' drive from Matakana village, you will feel a world apart. The view runs Middle-earth-like across the valley and out to the ocean, the New Zealand people picture before they get here.
Choose the spacious Scandinavian eco-lodge, our hugely popular African safari glamping tent, or the beautifully refurbished Airstream – each completely private, each with its own take on off-grid comfort.
Up to 8 guests · 4 bedrooms · 3 bathrooms
Up to 2 guests · 1 bedroom · 1 bathroom
Up to 3 guests · 1 bedroom · 1 bathroom
Our story
Matakana Retreat Owners Damon and Dianna on what they set out to create here – and a look across all 50 acres, from the native bush and the views out to Hauturu, to the three private stays tucked into it.
Watch the story 3 min · sound on
Some weekends are forgotten by Monday. Others stay with you for years – the long lunch that rolled on into sunset, the laughter around the fire pit, the morning everyone wandered out in dressing gowns to watch the mist lift off the valley.
Gather the friends you haven't seen in far too long, bring three generations of the family under one sky, or give your team the space to reconnect away from the office. Here there's nowhere to rush to and nothing to check – just the people you came with, and the stories you'll still be telling long after you leave.
No power lines, no town water and no sewer run up our driveway. Everything the retreat needs, it makes, catches or gives back to the land itself – quietly, in the background, so all that's left for you to do is slow down.
First light
Every drop of water comes from rain collected off the roofs into tanks on the property. It is good, safe drinking water, and each stay has filtered water on tap as well. Our Safari Glamping and the Airstream Glamping use composting toilets, and the cedar hot pool runs without chemicals, so nothing has to leave by a pipe that was never laid.
The cedar hot pool, full to the brim, the sky caught in the water
Through the day
Solar panels at every stay feed state-of-the-art BYD batteries, so the lights, the kettle and the Eco-Lodge kitchen all run on sunlight, and the hot water is heated the same way. After a long grey spell a generator quietly tops the batteries up – you won’t notice a thing.
The Eco-Lodge in the sun, its roof covered edge to edge in solar panels
After dark
The Eco-Lodge’s wood stove heats its water and its floors for the evening. Our Safari Glamping and the Airstream Glamping have no wifi by design, and while the Eco-Lodge has Starlink for when you truly need it, we gently suggest the phone stays in a drawer. You’ll thank us for it later.
Stargazing from the outdoor bath, the Milky Way overhead and the bush dark all aroundCurious how it works at each stay? Read our FAQs
Real stays, real views, real off-grid life – straight from the valley.
We are at 173 Smith Road, Matakana, on a private 50-acre property of mixed forest and native bush high above the Matakana valley. It is a 7-minute drive to Matakana village, 60 minutes from Auckland CBD and 1 hour 18 minutes from Auckland International Airport. Beautiful world-class local beaches, nationally and regionally significant marine and terrestrial parks, and fabulous local vineyards and breweries are all within 30 minutes’ drive.
Matakana Retreat is powered almost entirely by starlight. The sun’s rays are captured by our solar panels and stored in state-of-the-art BYD batteries. If we get a bad run of weather, the retreat tops the batteries up with a generator – and you won’t even notice any of this happening. By off-grid we also mean taking you off grid. So while there is Starlink internet at the lodge, we strongly encourage our guests to minimise their use of the internet and mobile devices while they are staying with us. You’ll thank us for it later, trust us.
Yes. The three stays together sleep 13 guests, and groups regularly take all of them for a celebration, reunion or retreat. Each stay is booked separately, so for the whole property send us a single enquiry with your dates and we will coordinate it. To see which nights all three are free at once, check the group availability table on our Experiences page.
Most dates carry a two-night minimum. The booking calendar on each stay shows the minimum that applies to the dates you pick, and will tell you if a particular arrival date needs a longer stay.
Something else? See all our FAQs
Weekends and holidays book out well in advance – secure your dates today.
Choose your stayQuestions first? Read our FAQs
