Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat

Lake Pukaki, New Zealand

Experience the luxury of Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat – named one of TIME’s World’s Greatest Places to Stay 2024. 

Luxurious private villa accommodation and
gourmet cuisine located in the South Island’s spectacular Aoraki Mount Cook region.

relaxing in the moraine villas

Luxurious Private Villas

Stay in peace and privacy with uninterrupted views, either across Lake Pukaki to Aoraki Mount Cook, or overlooking the Ben Ohau Range.

Tasting menu entreee

Estate to Plate Cuisine

Experience refined cuisine at The Moraine, a stunning dining destination enjoying the flavours of our region through the garden-to-plate philosophy.

Tasting menu entreee

Stargazing Experiences

Reserve a guided dark sky astronomy experience in the Pukaki Observatory for an memorably star gazing journey.

Destination Weddings

A spectacular location for dream weddings, elopements & celebrations with luxurious accommodation and a selection of beautiful venues to choose from.

Luxurious
Private Villas

Stay in peace and privacy with uninterrupted views, either across Lake Pukaki to Aoraki Mount Cook, or overlooking the Ben Ohau Range.

Fine
Dining

Experience fine dining at The Moraine, where we showcase the flavours of our region through our garden-to-plate philosophy.

Stargazing
Experiences

Join our astronomers in our boutique Pukaki Observatory for an unforgettable journey under one of the world’s darkest and clearest skies.

Destination
Weddings

The perfect setting for your dream wedding, with luxurious accommodation and a selection of beautiful venues to choose from.

Stay in peace and privacy,
in your own luxurious villa
with spectacular views.

All villas have a large central drawing room and dining area separating two bedrooms. Each bedroom includes an ensuite bathroom and a Super King bed that can be configured into two King Single beds for twin share. Villas are warmed by central heating, and the drawing room features a large open fireplace. Villas also include a private outdoor hot tub.

Lakeside Villas

The sweeping and iconic view over Lake Pukaki to Aoraki Mount Cook and the Southern Alps.

villa matariki sunset

Moraine Villas

Views over the Ben Ohau Range and the tawny landscape of the Mackenzie Country.

Special Offers

Browse our offers collection, and begin planning your own stay at Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat.

Surprised Excellence!!  We didn’t know a thing about Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat. We were just looking for a place to stay in the area on our way from Christchurch to Queenstown and luckly found that they had a few nights available that met our travel dates. Arrived to find a privately situated lodge with a wonderful bottle of wine and snack on the kitchen table in the homiest of living rooms. The living room overlooked the deck (and Jacuzzi) onto open fields with sheep and dear meandering about. In the backdrop was a beautiful mountain range. The bedroom and bathroom were to die for. Floor to ceiling windows in the bathroom to a private view of mountains and fields. The bedroom was expansive with windows and light galore. The food was gourmet and individually prepared to meet our dietary needs by the property’s own chef. We opted to have dinner brought to our lodge. Breakfast was placed in the refrigerator the night before for us to eat at our leisure in the morning. Spectacular farm to table fare with incredible plating and presentation. The staff were warm and gracious and made every effort to inquire about our stay to make sure all our needs were met. We would HIGHLY recommend a stay and will be back if we return to New Zealand. You would be missing something really special if you are in the area and don’t drop in for a night or two or three. No hesitation to recommend this to anyone.
Andrew B