Nelson's English country garden

The Monaco Hotel and Resort exudes muted elegance, inside and outside.

Layered with rich brocade fabrics, elegantly soft lighting and dark wooden beams, the first impression of the Monaco Hotel is solidly Olde World Elizabethan.

Set beside the quiet backwaters of the Waimea Inlet just south of Nelson city, the Monaco Hotel and Resort has been built true to the period in many ways and its muted elegance evokes a subtle feeling of prosperous comfort. This is no seaside pub.

The exterior is handmade red bricks inset with small mullioned windows and adorned with luxuriant hanging baskets of geraniums, lobelia, petunias, pansies and impatiens.

Inside, the low ceilings and warm colours create a cheery environment. Heavy beams recycled from the old Nelson wharf have been used to great effect.

Decorative lighting imported from Asia adds an exotic touch that would have come from somewhere hot and sultry, such as Morocco back in Elizabethan times.

Climbing roses scale the fences and soften the outdoor angles, and the duck pond by the roadside is surrounded with more roses, poa grasses, bright flowering hebes and star jasmine.

The overwhelming effect of this carefully designed setting is one of peace and homely pleasure.

The Monaco is the work of local developer Mike Gepps. With a vision and creative talent that belies his gentle humour, he is on track to put the finishing touches to Nelson's first big resort development in 2007.

In the meantime, the hotel and resort areas are up and running and have already taken on a cultured atmosphere all their own.

To carry on the garden theme during a trip to Nelson, the Samuels Rose Garden at Broadgreen House is just a 15-minute walk along the road.

This large planting of more than 3000 roses features 600 different varieties, including the soft creamy climber Crepuscule, which wanders extravagantly over a series of archways through the garden.

Other favourites include Michelangelo, Raspberry Ice and the fragrant Intrigue. Pretty perennial plantings surround historic Broadgreen House, which is open most days from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Just a short drive across town, the 6ha of Isel Park in Stoke also have extensive gardens, a Victorian greenhouse and a magnificent selection of huge specimen trees, including some massive oaks, rimu and giant redwoods.

Isel Park is also known for its rhododendron and azalea beds and flowering spring bulbs and hostas. Stone-fronted Isel House was built for the Marsden family on the original 376ha property around 1850. Now extensively restored, it is open daily from 11am to 4pm.

In central Nelson the public gardens are smaller but no less engaging. Fairfield Park is a rambling area that includes one of the city's oldest and least- maintained cemeteries.

Beautiful old wrought iron surrounds lie haphazardly among the rengarenga lilies and the shady tracks that wander beneath the trees. Several nice walks are in the hills behind Fairfield House on the other side of upper Trafalgar St.

Queens Gardens, named for another regal relic, Queen Victoria, is a fine mix of formal rosebeds and perennial plantings that lie along a horseshoe bend of water near the Maitai River where more large specimen trees and beautiful plantings of clivia and azaleas can be found, along with lots of ducks and their accompanying mess.

But it is the much smaller ducks at the Monaco Hotel that stole the show. Overnight, the pond was transformed from a sedate sanctuary for several matronly ducks to a playpool full of fast moving day-old ducklings which had hatched in the surrounding foliage during the night.

Paddling around at high speed they added a lively touch to the beautiful garden I admired out the breakfast room window that morning.

Where

The Monaco is on the shore of the Waimea Inlet just south of Nelson city, at 6 Point Rd, Monaco. It can be contacted at 0508 666 226 or www.monacovillage.co.nz

What it costs

Hotel room from $195 to $250 a night; self-contained villa from $281 to $309 a night

Getting there

To drive there from Nelson Airport, head towards the city along Quarantine Rd, turn right into Nayland Rd at the WOW Centre roundabout, then right at the Songer St roundabout and head towards the sea. Don't take the bypass south.

Where to eat

On-site restaurant does breakfast and lunch. The Seaside pub across the road serves meals, or head into the city for any number of good restaurants.

What to do

A garden-themed trip to Nelson would include the Samuels Rose Garden at Broadgreen Houseand Isel Park in Stoke, Washbourn Gardens in Richmond, Gardens of the World at Brightwater, the Cathedral Gardens, Queens Gardens, Fairfield Park and the Miyazu Japanese Garden

Further information

www.nelsonnz.com