415 Marine Parade, Napier
A perfectly cooked bowl of steaming hot porridge, served alongside the sort of toppings oaty dreams are made of summed up how welcome I'd be made to feel by Esther and Tom Seymour, my hosts at 415 Marine Parade.
The owners of this new luxury accomodation spot, a 10-minute walk from Napier's city centre, were up pre-dawn to ensure their weekend guests were well-fed and caffeinated before May's Hawke's Bay Marathon.
The simple breakfast, complete with homemade cinnamon brioche and the option of anything else I fancied was cooked, was just one example of the personal touches this couple serve up to those who stay at the beautifully renovated villa named for its street address facing the sea.
Built in 1860 and once the last house on Marine Parade, the property has offered accomodation since 1910.
Esther and Tom bought it in 2019 and re-piled and strengthened the building before installing a lift and creating en suites for each of its five bedrooms. They replaced the plumbing and wiring too, but original features, such as the floorboards in the dinning room, were retained where possible.
Keen to incorporate the colours of the ever-present ocean, the couple used a palette of soft greens and blues, and wallpaper is used throughout to add texture. Lighting fixtures from ECC and Murano Plus are a striking feature, while furniture from CC Interiors and Modern Chair, fabrics by Warwick and Sanderson and bed linen by Bianca Lorenne and Wallace Cotton complete the sophisticated aesthetic.
Esther and Tom have thought of everything, from Mackintosh's Toffees dotted about and tea and coffee facilities upstairs, to a thoughtfully placed pile of cosy blankets for snuggling under on the balcony and a compendium accessed from your smartphone via a QR code.
The comfortable rooms have heat pumps and smart televisions with Netflix accounts, and each en suite has heated floors, rain showers and toiletries by L'Occitane and local brand Real World.
After a day spent running around and enjoying what Napier has to offer, returning to 415 felt like coming home.
And with that handy name, there's no chance of forgetting where you're staying.
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