Neil Porten stays at Dunedin's Esplanade Apartments and Motel
Location: The Esplanade, St Clair Beach, Dunedin.
Style: Relaxed beach-house cool. Everything appears freshly renovated in what is an older building and the result is a comfortable white-walled, grey-carpeted, motel-style unit. There's light-coloured wood furniture, a long black-leather sofa, with cane, bamboo and raffia furnishings.
Price: $200-250 per night.
Perfect for: Dunedin is a compact city and easy to get around, so this seaside suburb, 10 minutes from the city centre, is an ideal base for any activity and particularly convenient if you plan to explore the Otago Peninsula. If you're a surfer there's no better spot for checking the conditions.