Waiheke Escape

Enjoy the slower pace of island life at this completely private Waiheke holiday home nestled in a native bush reserve just 15 minutes’ walk from Palm Beach. With 5 bedrooms and multiple living areas that let guests socialize or spend quiet time, it’s perfect for groups of up to 13—and their pets as well!

Warm and inviting inside and out, the house features a large, sunny upper deck for outdoor entertaining, perched in the treetops 4 meters above the forest floor. A huge covered lower deck with table tennis, a spa pool, dinghy and hammock chair offers fun and relaxation for the whole family. A fully equipped open kitchen fitted with name-brand appliances is a great gathering place while a wood burner in the lounge keeps wintertime stays cosy.

Nature lovers are also well provided for: An acre of virgin native bush, including mature trees and palm groves, hosts many striking epiphytes. Wander between the trees, listening to cicadas and crickets. Thrill at the magnificent sight of native wood pigeons. You may even be greeted by fantails, drawn to the sounds of people walking the tracks.

Please note: Rates listed are for 8 people. Additional guests are $40 per person per night.

There is a pet cleaning fee of $125 if you bring your pet

Bedrooms: 5
There are 3 bedrooms downstairs: Two of those with Split King beds, bedside tables and lights, walk-in wardrobe and drawers. The third bedroom with Split King bed, beside tables and lights, walk-in wardrobe, drawers and a Foldout single. Two bedrooms upstairs, one with a set of Bunks and a Single bed and the other one with a Queen bed.

Sleeps: 12 

Bathrooms: 2.5
Downstairs bathroom with shower, toilet and heated towel rail. Upstairs bathroom with bath, separate shower and toilet. There is another separate toilet next to the downstairs bathroom.

Kitchen:
Spacious and fully equipped with 6 burner Smeg gas/electric cooker, Stanley solid fuel range, microwave, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, Expresso Coffee machine, coffee grinder and plunger, walk in pantry.

Dining:
Dining room table with seating for 12 people.

Lounge:
The living area has a wood burner, SKY TV, stereo with iPod dock and a DVD Player. Seating facilities for 8 people. 

Laundry:
Laundry room with a large Fisher and Paykel washing machine and dryer, iron and ironing board. All linen and cleaning included.

Outdoor Facilities:
Upper deck off the kitchen/living area with plenty of seating, BBQ and umbrella. There is a lower covered deck with table tennis, darts and spa pool. Off street parking.

Closeby attractions: 
15 min walk to beautiful Palm Beach, Palm Beach Fish and Chips shop and covenience store. The Lookout Restaurant & Bar is located up the hill from Palm Beach. A 10 minute drive to the car ferry at Kennedy Point and approximately an 8 min drive to the passenger ferry located at Matiatia.
There are some beautiful walks in the area as well as a playground at Palm Beach and free BBQ facilities. Palm Beach is a beautiful sandy beach - safe swimming so good for kids, great snorkeling, diving and home to plenty of boats in summer. If the wind is blowing in from the north you can get some good surf, but generally the water is calm.

• Great comms from owners and management. Good size rooms & great sized common spaces like kitchen, dining room, lounge and two outdoor spaces. We were a group of 20 adults and it never felt too small.
  Stevee Evans, Apr 2024
• Host was very friendly and easy to deal with. Plenty of space in the house, good for larger groups. Overall great stay, thank you.
  Ryan Jones, Mar 2024
• What a perfect spot. It was exactly what we needed for our family to have a home base whilst attending a wedding on waiheke. Great open plan living that meant we could all hang out together and have our own space on each floor. Would highly recommend.
  Jessica Lawrence, Feb 2024
• Very clean and well appointed home. Excellent local information and recommendations given. Lovely covered outdoor area with table tennis table and dart board was also good fun. Would definitely recommend if you were looking for a big family home.
  Rick Lovett, Jan 2024
• We stayed here as a group of 11 (2 families). Overall a great stay. The house is beautiful - big, spacious and light with a great kitchen and living area and lovely bedrooms. The garden and outdoor area with table tennis is great. We love Palm Beach. We drove down each time as with 7 kids including 2yo twins it was a bit far to walk with toys/boards/towels etc but you could walk it. Great cafe, playground and stunning beach. Would stay again.5 stars!
  Sarah Lawrence, Jan 2024
• We had a fantastic time on Waiheke and no doubt the accomodation was a massive part of the positive experience. The photos do not do it justice and I highly recommend staying here if you are travelling with a big group!
  Sam Mils, Dec 2023
• Amazing - will come back. 5 stars!
  Jordan Pinkerton, Nov 2023
• Our whole family came with us for my 70th birthday and we had an amazing holiday. There were 11 of us altogether and although the weather wasn’t perfect, the house was!
  Rosie Denham, Sept 2023
• Richard was a wonderful host, went out of his way to help us figure out heating in the house and gave us good local recommendations on where to go / eat. Waiheke Escape was even better in person than in the pictures, you can't capture the beautiful essence of surrounding nature. Would definitely recommend to anyone with a larger group, heaps of space and lovely open areas with lots of sunshine and privacy!
  Koralee Sute, Jul 2023
• A family weekend for husband’s 60th Birthday. Absolutely fabulous even though there was a bit of rain!
  Sherri Blair, May 2023
• We had a lovely stay. Beautiful location made private by lots of surrounding bush
  Emily Teanby, May 2023
• Great place and is actually much nicer than it looks in photos. Love the downstairs bar area, so much fun. Great hosts with excellent communication. Would definitely recommend.
  Emma McElrea, Apr 2023
• We had a wonderful relaxing holiday and 65th Birthday Celebration with three generations. It was great to find a place that could accommodate ten of us easily.
  Mark Roberts, Apr 2023
• This was the perfect place for us to stay. We enjoyed the peace and quiet and it was well setup for a large group.
  Peter and Sally Herbert, Mar 2023
• The place is lovely, a great atmosphere and great for large groups. Check in was easy and there were heaps of towels etc when we arrived and the place was very clean. Location is good as it is close to the bus stop and a trip to the beach is walkable.
  Madeline Mitchell, Mar 2023
• Amazing home for entertainment and it’s equiped with everything you need. The home is clean with great location to the beaches and shops . Will definitely book again 
  Liz Ridings, Feb 2023
• 'Thanks team. We had a fabulous time. 5 stars!
  Ben Dando, Jan 2023
• Richard was a great host. he is a friendly, helpful person who responds quickly. The property was as per the photos and clean. We had a great time there, spending time at the property relaxing or at one of the near by beaches Palm Beach is walking distance.
  Vincent Walker, Dec 2022
• We had the absolute pleasure of staying in this lovely home for our work Christmas function. We needed a place that slept 12 people and the host was more than happy to work with us to make sure no one had to top and tail. The home exceeded our expectations with the downstairs deck area suitable for a quiet drink and a dip in the spa if you wanted while the full kitchen allowed us to do in house cooking for the team. Plenty of outdoor space with a beautiful outlook onto Waiheke bush. This place would be perfect for large groups such as two families for a getaway on Waiheke. Thank you again, Maire, Phill and Richard for making our work function amazing
  Rebecca Blackstop, Dec 2022
• Excellent place, large entertainment area and great location
  Manish Lexman, Nov 2022
• Thank you for letting us stay in your property this weekend. It was absolutely fabulous and we had a lovely time.
  Brian O'Sullivan, Nov 2022
• Exceeded expectations
  Nicola Bleasel, Nov 2022
• The whole procedure was smooth and even though the weather did not play it’s part the house was amazing and we all had a really great time.
  Malcolm Osborne, Oct 2022
• we enjoyed a fantastic family weekend at Waiheke escape. Communication was amazing. we loved waking to hear the birds & see the sun dappled through the trees that surround the house. We made lots of use of the unique entertainment area - playing darts, table tennis & soaking jn the hot-tub. The house felt cozy with the fires burning which were all laid ready when we arrived at the house. we appreciated the thoughtful touches that enhanced our experience - fresh flowers, a bottle of wine & wee note for one of our party celebrating a big birthday & wee chocolate treats on each bed. We'll definitely be back!
  Mary-Ellen, Jul 2022
• Great place to stay with a large group of people, super clean and tidy. The owners were very polite, happy to take phone calls and answer any questions. I would happily stay there again.
  Joel Dorrington, Feb 2022
• Lovely large home surrounded in native bush. Plenty of room. Loved the games room looking out onto native bush with spa, table tennis, dartboard, bar etc.
  Chris Simpson, Feb 2022
• We had the most fantastic time here. The Hosts were very generous, leaving us a bottle of wine to celebrate my birthday and giving us a late checkout. Plenty of fun things to do around the house with board games, table tennis, darts, and a spa. Plus, a short walk to the beach or shops. We will definitely be back!
  Jennifer Hale, Jan 2022
• Fantastic holiday house. Great hosts. We highly recommend it.
  Matt Hector-Taylor, Jan 2022
• Arrived and hosts had left wine and chocolate for my birthday. Lovely house driving down the driveway my friends were like "ooh ahh" I wanted to stay somewhere special for my birthday that could fit all of us and this was perfect. Would suit a couple of families looking for a holiday place.
  Yvonne Dodunski, Aug 2021
• Good size house with great facilities and social areas. Lots of amenities in the house making it feel like you are in a home versus a sterile motel room. We were a group of friends having an annual catch up and felt the house was the perfect size for the 10 of us and we loved the quirkiness of the house. Communication was outstanding from start to finish.
  Scott Pinfold, Jan 2021
• 'Awesome place for a get away. Nestled between the trees it feels like an oasis. Lovely house with everything you need.'
  Laura Schulze, Dec 2020
• Awesome house, very well laid out and suited our extended family group really well, we were very welcome and at home on Waiheke Island.
  Debbie Bjarnesen, Nov 2020
• Highly recommended to everyone! If you wanna have a weekend gateway to Waiheke with your family or friends, this is a perfect house for it. Walking distance to the shops and the beach. The house itself was very cosy and clean. Nice surroundings, secluded with lots of trees. Would definitely come back again.
  Conghui Li, Nov 2020
• We had a great stay! Awesome for a big group :) cool private bush location yet not too far away from wineries etc., and good amenities at the house itself. Hosts were also very helpful and accommodating. Thanks again for having us.
  Julia Dawe, Aug 2020
• “Great place in a good location. Excellent communication.”
  Curtis Blyth, Nov 2019
• “We had a great time staying here. Really peaceful being surrounded by native bush. Close to the shops. Perfect for a group. The fire heated the whole house. Thoroughly recommend this place. Thanks”
  Ben Sarge, Jul 2019
• “This property is stunning. Great range of living spaces. Fabulous for a large group. It's a relaxing spot and so central to local amenities and the beach. I especially loved the windows looking out onto the bush. I would love to come back”                                                                                                              Ali Pottinger, Mar 2019 
• Perfect home away from home getaway. What an amazing place to have booked for the long weekend with a large group. Layout of house was great as to not be in each others space, the open plan living area flowing outside to the deck was just perfect. The wide windows opening out from the kitchen allowed conversations to flow from indoor to out. Everything available as needed in a house. Hosts were very flexible with check in and out. Would recommend and will use again in future. Thank you very much for opening your home to us. The property was perfect for our requirements.
  Anna Ellis, Jan 2019
• We were very grateful to have house manager pretty much on site who forewarned us about the power outage and also guided me with the water when we lost that.  He was great and as I said a blessing having him on site. We had a great time and served our requirements very well.
  Margaret Spiro, Jul 2018
• "This is a great place to stay The young children enjoyed the upstairs rooms and the adults enjoyed doing the jigsaw puzzles Locality is close to the Ostend shops with supermarket and cafes A 15-20 minute walk"                                                                                                                                          Sandra Morrison, April 2018  
• "Lovely private site. Loved the the native birds, tuis, pigeons and morporks. Very quick to reply. Informative and helpful."                                                                                                                             Wendy Dorsett Jan 2018
• "Richard was fantastic to deal with, easy to get hold of, responded quickly and efficiently. Nice big house perfect for large groups of people"                                                                                           Pip Llewellyn Oct 2017
• "Fantastic set up for families. All of the facilities were clean and tidy. Great kitchen, the bedrooms were well set up and the games area down below was awesome. We would definitely recommend this property."                                                                                                                     Cherie Petrowski May 2017
• “Great communication from Richard, the house was accurately described and a wonderful home. I would highly recommend this as a place to stay to anybody. Great location and a nice relaxing place to get away. Thank you Richard. We had a magical weekend spent with family and friends.”     Sam Baron Mar 2017
• "Incredible Bach - very well equipped for a large group and we loved the spa pool. Perfectly situated for palm beach, and easy to hop on the bus to oneroa and onetangi. Will hopefully be back!"           Alice Dunn Jan 2017 
• “Maire was a marvellous host- she was in touch via email well in advance of our arrival, and called the morning of. The house is huge, far larger than it appears in the photos, and was perfect for what we wanted- a comfortable, relaxed, and spacious house for our large group. The location is good too, central to Ostend and Palm Beach. ”
  Will Thomas, Jan 2017 
• "Amazing property, would book this again, great for a large group."
  Greg Sewell, Nov 12016
• "Absolutely wonderful! Divine place, that both my friends and I would certainly seek to rent again. It is visually appealing, set down a drive way in the bush. The place has been so well thought through in providing guests with a warm, welcoming stay, with lots of space. Owners were helpful when dealing directly with them, which we very much appreciated. Watch for mosquitos, even in winter. This place has the 'gush factor' it's so lovely!"
  Caro McCourtie, Jun 2016 
• The house was in a great spot... 5 minute drive to the beach and a 10 minute drive to town. Tidy house and the spa was great. Mosquitos were out in full force being a house in the bush, but other than that a really enjoyable stay. The second night we shut the doors and windows at dusk and the problem went away.
  Megal Henzell, Apr 2016
• Lovely house hidden away in the gardens - perfect for group trips to Waiheke. Table tennis, hot tub and entertaining space is very relaxing. Bedrooms and bathrooms comfortable and convieneint. Highly recommended.
  Laura, Feb 2016
• Escape Waiheke is amazing. The bedrooms are sizeable and there are enough living spaces for groups of people to chill and hang out without crowding each other. The facilities are great, clean linen and towels; spa pool and entertainment area downstairs was great for our group. Very close to Palm Beach. Great deck and BBQ/entertaining area upstairs. We would love to stay again! 
  Amelia, Feg 2016