Name: Highden Manor Estate
Address: 220 Green Road RD 6,Green Road, Palmerston North, Palmerston North, Palmerston North, 4476, New Zealand
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Garden

Terrace

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Rooms

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Kitchen

Bottled water

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Barbecue grill(s)

Picnic area

Barbeque

Recreation

Parking

Event facilities

Meeting and presentation facilities

Conference Hall

Business

Location

At the hotel

Palmerston North Airport

Wanganui Airport

Highden Manor Estate

Palmerston North

Had our wedding here last year. The grounds and exterior were extremely unkept for what we paid, the rooms were in average condition. We requested and paid extra for trees to be trimmed along the driveway as we had large vehicles coming for wedding party. They didn't do this, and most of our vehicles ended up scratched. Internet didn't work, shower was cold the entire time. No one really around. We booked out most of the house for our wedding party but felt very awkward to find that one other couple not in our wedding group had a room booked as well as access to the dining hall during wedding when we paid so much to book the house for our friends and family. Wedding party was fun, food was good but was disgusting to look in the kitchen and see fly tape littered with flies. Reception was good - but that was due to our own doing. Next morning breakfast was strange - hot cooked with a side cold mushed peas? Odd. To top it off someone had left my wedding dress on the bed. When we called to pick it up an hour after leaving the venue they tried to say no one left a dress there and the rooms had been cleaned. Thankfully we insisted as we knew it was there and they strangely found it an hour later. When we arrived to pick it up the entire house was locked despite ringing door bell numerous times, no one came. Managed to get in a bottom floor window and retrieve my things.

Interesting Place

We were here for a wedding, and overall it is a really great wedding venue. If we hadn't stayed here we may have had a higher opinion. Unfortunately the stunning old building needs a lot of work, there was a serious leak upstairs (my sister nearly slipped over but was told 'what do you expect, it's 100 years old' by staff), some of the wood in the deck was soggy and unsafe, gutters were leaking and overflowing, windows wouldn't open or stay open etc, and no temperature control. 

There were lots of areas where improvement would have been easy - doing the lawns properly, getting rid of the dead sheep in a paddock out the front before the wedding party started arriving, replacing the many blown lightbulbs (in every chandelier), giving it a really good clean and getting rid of the old rag on an outside windowsill etc. 

In saying that, the building is stunning, the garden and grounds are really lovely, rooms are huge and the decor and furniture are incredible. Other than the issue with the leak, the staff/owners were really friendly and helpful. 
It has huge potential, but it's got a way to go.

So much potential

This has been a magnificent place and could be again with huge dollars put into it. Not clean.Limited facilities and staffed by people who didn't know what they were doing. Friendly enough but. It felt like a back packers with a 5 star price.

Possibilities

We arrived in the afternoon for our two nights stay... we were met by the Manager and after a brief introduction she left us and we did not see her (or indeed any other member of staff !) again until moments before we were leaving ! We found the Manor and its grounds rather overwhelming, the roadway up to the Manor was long (and unlit), the Manor itself was very large and imposing, and the front and rear gardens were also quite imposing, with many statues dotted about... we were not able to walk about the lawns freely however as both front and rear lawns were quite overgrown and boggy ! Our room was very large, consisting of two rooms (each with very large double bed) and good-sized bathroom, our room was clean and tidy, although our balcony overlooking the rear garden was in need of a good clean. During our short stay we were unhappy about finding that one of the large bedroom windows would not lock (seized latch), and we were also unhappy at finding that just about the whole of the downstairs (ground floor) portion of the Manor was being used by (had been taken over by)  a number of young people who told us that they were on a `retreat`.

All in all we found Highden Manor Estate quite lacking... we did not see any member of staff during our stay (other than the Manager briefly when we arrived and when we left !), at night we found the whole place quite spooky as there was no external lighting other than one very small solar-powered light at the front door, and on the one occasion that we did venture into the large breakfast room, we found half-eaten bowls of food on tables with the whole room looking rather disordered ! :-(

Highden Manor Estate was not what we expected and we will remember our stay there for all the wrong reasons ! :-(

Not what we expected ! :-(

We arrived after dark and found the whole drive unlit and pretty spooky getting all the way back into the woods. It was only 6:30pm, so we didn't expect to find the whole place totally desolate, dark, and deserted. Literally, no lights on inside or outside.

We let ourselves in and it took a few minutes for anyone to even find us. Once they did, we were told we were the only ones staying in the manor for the night. 

When we  asked about their usual guests, the manager at the hotel told us that one of the big things the manor is now used for is "Mystery school" which is for "alternative spiritual activities." She was pretty cagey about what this actually meant, which made it sound a lot weirder than I'm sure it actually is, but she said it several times and it left us with kind of a weird feeling. 

Once in the rooms, we found the bed sagging and uncomfortable, a large stain on our bathroom mirror, and the internet not working. THEN we read the history of the property, where it detailed all the people who had lived...and died there. Not joking, you couldn't make this up, we read about at least seven people dying on the property over its history in fires and building collapses. Just...a WEIRD thing to advertise in your in-room information sheet. We're not skittish people and have spent the night in hostels, camping, anywhere. But my husband was so unnerved that we actually LEFT the property at about 11pm after a couple hours and stayed in town at a different hotel. When we left, every light in the house was out again and we literally had to stumble our way out in the dark. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

A little too far removed

We stayed here for two nights. We were staying in an annex building, which at first seemed clean and tidy. Unfortunately, I had to spot a cockroach in my towel and when I hit the blanket there were also stains there. The bathroom was quite tidy and in the kitchen they also found everything to feed themselves. Overall, it was fine for the price, but I would have liked to have saved myself the insect.

An Unexpected Discovery

The B&B is really nice. The building is great and the plot is very idyllic. The room was in the annex. It was very small, but you're only there to sleep. The bathrooms were very clean and the towels are extremely knowledgeable, something we didn't often see on our trip. Besides, there were two bottles of water in the room, soap+shampoo+foon and in the kitchen, and you also found everything you need. Washers etc. The owners are also very polite and friendly. If you could complain about anything, it would be that you don't have wireless in the rooms. The breakfast itself we didn't try because we had everything with us.

Highden Manor Estate

Main amenities of the hotel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment