Family's 25-year Rotorua holiday tradition

HOLIDAY DEVOTION: Colin and Lois Hooper (middle) with their family who come down to Rotorua after every Christmas for a holiday. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

For a quarter of a century, one Auckland family has been packing bags after Christmas and heading to Rotorua to be treated like kings and queens.

Colin and Lois Hooper have enjoyed a holiday at the city's Sudima Hotel for a couple weeks just after Christmas for the past 25 years.

For about 10 years before that they would visit on some Christmases and spend weekends in Rotorua during winter.

The couple's two children were small when they started making annual trips to Rotorua, and are now grown and married each with two children of their own.

The whole family live in Auckland and all 10 of them travel to Rotorua, she said.

Mrs Hooper said the main reason they love Rotorua was because there was always so many things for the grandchildren to do.

"All our friends in Auckland wonder why on earth we keep coming back," she said.

"Every year we come there's always something new to do."

There were certain traditions they liked to carry on, which included going up the Gondola and the children going down the luge, going to Tikitapu (Blue Lake), ten pin bowling, mini golf and going to church, she said.

They also went to the Valentine's restaurant before it closed and loved the baths and spas.

She said activities the family had particularly enjoyed this year were the Big Splash, the Treetop walk in the Redwoods (which they did twice) and the Aquatic Centre because it had been done up.

The couple's wedding anniversary fell just after Christmas so they always did something special on that day.

The hotel has gone through three name changes in the time they have been coming, from the Travel Lodge, to Lake Plaza, and now Sudima.

But one thing remained the same: they always stayed in the same room that had a balcony and "a wonderful view".

She said they were treated very well by the staff, some of whom had been there for many years.

Mrs Hooper said when they arrived this summer there was a box of chocolates and a note from management saying ''Enjoy your stay''.

"Our family think we are treated like the King and Queen."