Hotel review: French Bay House, Akaroa

French Bay House, Akaroa. Photo / Martin Haughey

Location: Along Akaroa's main road, a two-minute walk from the water.
Style: A historic home now converted into a sweet B&B.
Price: Rooms with en suite start from $250. Includes Wi-Fi and cooked breakfast.
Perfect for: Romance, exploring.

First impressions: French Bay House is surrounded by beautiful gardens, pretty enough that passersby will stop to take photographs. On a shady porch, take a seat in the swing chair and wait for your hosts Jacqui and Tim to arrive for a tour of the house. It dates from 1874, when it was a family home and doctor's room, and is known locally as "the doctor's house". The architecture is a style known as "carpenter Gothic" - a technique of applying Gothic forms to wood.

Rooms: French Bay offers three king-sized rooms, all with en suite. Upstairs, Mt Bossu is a generous attic room with views to the hills and harbour. Fresh-cut flowers from the gardens, as well as crisp linens, await the road-weary. The house is filled with collectables from Jacqui and Tim's travels across Asia and Europe, and guests will find little trinkets scattered around, such as the old leather suitcases and luggage trunks in the hallways, atlases, masks and drums, and thoughtful coffee-table books to browse.

The B&B is consciously TV-free, so enjoy the selection of books available in the library.

French Bay House, Akaroa. Photo / Martin Haughey

Bathrooms: Each room has a simple and tidy en suite with shower, and organic toiletries. There are also shared facilities for guests downstairs.

Food and drink: At breakfast, guests sit at a shared table and enjoy a first round of homemade granola with yoghurt and fruit, while Tim whips up farmhouse breakfasts and salmon that he has hot-smoked himself. The eggs are from the couple's own chooks, and creamed spinach and buttery mushrooms are divine.

There is fresh fruit to snack on throughout the day, and in the evening, an honesty bar is available.

Facilities: Borrow Jacqui and Tim's bikes for a pootle around town. Make use of the sunny gardens too. Walk around the house to find cast-iron tables and chairs and picnic benches, as well as the swing seat for two on the veranda. Essentials such as chargers and irons are available on request. There are maps available and Tim will mark up a map showing you all Akaroa's main highlights.

In the neighbourhood: This is a small town, and everything is within walking distance. Try the excellent fish and chip shop across the road, and take them down to the wharf, a couple of minutes away. The Giant's House, an eccentric private garden of mosaics, is worth a look - this is about the furthest point in town, about 20 minutes away if you dawdle. In between you'll find the excellent Harbar, which overlooks the water and serves a wide range of gins, burgers and other beach snacks.

French Bay House, Akaroa. Photo / Martin Haughey

Family friendly: Children over the age of 12 are welcome.

Contact: frenchbayhouse.co.nz

For more New Zealand travel ideas and inspiration, go to newfinder.co.nz and newzealand.com