A taste of Tuscany in Havelock North

Accommodation was beautiful and very comfortable

This property looked incredible in photos and was even better in person. It’s a beautiful space, was super clean, communication was great and there was even a kitten that spent a bit of time with us! 10/10, highly recommend

Beautifully decorated and private, it was situated adjacent to an orchard and close to town. We loved being greeted with the incredible aroma of rosemary. It was a short drive to Te Mata Park, which offers great hiking. We found a quaint restaurant for lunch in town—Lot 2. We highly recommend it. Thank you, Liv, for recreating a taste of Tuscany. We enjoyed our stay.

This property was spacious and stylish. It also felt quite homely, however there were a few 'functionality issues', such as the shower head not being high enough so I had to bend slightly to wash my hair (and I'm not that tall - 5ft 8in). Bathroom tap installed incorrectly so it goes hot first then cold etc. They were minor things though.What spoiled our stay though, was being woken up on the first morning at 5.55am by a loud banging and then being kept awake by the sound of the apple farmer spraying his apples.On the second morning at 7am we were woken again by the farmer spraying. We had a break on the 3rd morning but on the last morning - once again we woken early by the farmer who was also happy to peer in the windows at us as he went by!The spray coats the windows and the noise inside sounds like you are sitting beside an plane waiting to take off. It went on for 1.5hrs. Even if we were early risers, we couldn't enjoy a coffee in peace.After the 2nd morning of this, I sent a message to the host who was very apologetic.We understood when we booked that it's a working farm, however what was not made clear was exactly what this meant in terms of disruption. We think it's been downplayed which is NOT OK when you're spending close to 2k for 4 nights stay. Maybe it was just the time of year for the farmer but it's still not ok and offering an extra nights stay free (which the host did) doesn't really cut it. We would have preferred a discount on our stay.

Great place to stay on a recent family holiday in Havelock North. Lovely setting in an apple orchard, with light filled living/kitchen area The place is tastefully decorated, comfortable, and very cozy. The kitchen is well set up for cooking in.

Awesome house, perfect for our family. Very homely and cosy and an excellent location to town.

I stayed with a few girlfriends for one of the Mission concerts. We all thought the place was lovely, really well thought out, immaculate and welcoming - we were sad we didn't get to spend more time there.

Spacious, stylish barn overlooking orchard. Tall shuttered windows, comfortable furniture and well equipped kitchen. Morning sun streams through the shutters. Private alfresco dining in pleasant garden with citrus trees. Great location!

What a wonderful getaway!!…We stayed at Villa Rossa for 2 weeks…the former apple sorting house in the back of the hosts’ residence is charming with interesting thought provoking art on the walls. 2 bedrooms, one with a king that looks out on a neighboring orchard and another with twin beds. Highlights were a wonderful shower, many electrical outlets, a great functioning kitchen, a HUGE table that can be used not only for meals but enough room for games or a large puzzle (my wife is a puzzle “addict”),Netflix available on the telly…an excellent A/C and heater in the main room. We were less than 5 minutes from Havelock North Village with great restaurants and wonderful coffee shops (we fell in love with morning drinks at “At E’Z)…less than 10 minutes from Hastings with more eating and shopping options. What really made our stay so memorable and our hosts SO special was that we lived through Cyclone Gabrielle…the worst storm to hit the area in over 107 years…we were without power for about 38 hours and could not cook as the Villa had an electric stove…Liv was so wonderful as she had so much to deal with but made us a wonderful vegetarian pasta dinner when we had no communication access and all stores in the area were without power…her husband, Patch, even brought us a small portable gas stove so we could cook…we just cannot say enough about them as “innkeepers”. We came here with the intention of participating in the Napier Art Deco Festival, which was cancelled due to the storm…we will return next year to give it another chance and hope to stay at Villa Rossa once again!!

Although the Hawkes Bay weather didn’t behave itself that didn’t matter as the property was so welcoming and homely that we were happy to stay indoors. Beautifully fitted out with all the luxuries of home. Highly recommend.