The Old Post Office Lodge: a perfect base camp for Ruapehu adventures

Owhango Old Post Office Lodge is one of the newest accommodation options in the Ruapehu region - but also one of the oldest. Photo / Visit Ruapehu

Helen van Berkel checks into an old post office transformed into a bespoke and beautiful place to stay.

Location: State Highway 4, roughly 20 kilometres south of Taumaraunui.

Perfect for: The Lodge sleeps up to 18 people and is central to all of the Adventure Highways’ hiking, skiing, biking, paddling attractions.

Price: From $175 to $1000, depending on whether you want a single room or the entire lodge.

First impressions: The quintessential old Post Office is exactly what you imagine it to look like: an old post office. It’s lit up with fairy lights when I pull in after dark and it makes me feel like Christmas. But inside it’s like walking into a living museum. I walk from room to room, each sumptuously decorated in Great Gadsby art deco style. From the velvet buttoned sofas, to the frilled bed canopies to the telphone and postal services knicknacks in every room, the old Post Office Lodge is a glorious homage to the 1920s.

The Old Post Office Lodge can comfortably accommodate up to 18 guests, making it suitable for larger groups or family get-togethers. Photo / Old Post Office Lodge

Room: I had the choice of seven bedrooms and it was not an easy choice. The canopied bedroom that faced the highway? The bunkroom where the single beds were amusingly dressed in telephone-box-themed duvets? I finally chose the wooden bedstead in the old postmaster’s wing of the house.

Bathroom: The attention to exquisite detail continued in the bathrooms, where the floors were black and white tiles and the shower continued the telephone box theme. But the amenities were modern the whole way: the shower was hot, the pressure perfect.

From the outside, the lodge retains the quintessential look of an old post office with twinkling fairy lights. Photo / Old Post Office Lodge

Food and drink: Tea and coffee is provided and all the cons are modern in a kitchen designed to cater for a crowd or an individual traveller such as myself. I bought food from the Four Square in nearby National Park but in the end could not bring myself to sully the kitchen with its beautiful tiles, large wooden kitchen table and catering-size appliances.

Facilities: Although stepping through the door takes you to a curated space of art deco perfection, the lodge has Wi-Fi, heat-pumps, a smart TV – all you’d expect in a classy establishment in a classy international city. There’s even a Finnish sauna and a hot tub, bubbling seductively after a day exploring the Ruapehu district.

Despite its nostalgic charm, the lodge boasts all modern facilities like Wi-Fi, heat pumps, and a smart TV. Photo / Old Post Office Lodge

In the neighbourhood: Owhango declares itself the base camp of Ruapehu. It’s central to the slopes for skiing, mountain biking, hiking, to the district art trail, visiting the alpacas at Nevelea, to the beautiful Bradley Gardens. Personally though, I could simply sit inside the lodge and drink in its aesthetic.

theoldpostofficelodge.co.nz