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!!