Treetops Lodge & EstateRotorua, New Zealand

The Treetops Spa experience uses the Estate Sourced Manuka Honey Scrub with 100% organic ingredients using our own estate reared Manuka Honey as the key ingredient. Authentic styles of traditional and Maori treatments and healing using natural, locally sourced ingredients, traditionally believed to combine physical and spiritual cleansing.

Estate Sourced Manuka Honey Scrub

Our 100% pesticide free Manuka honey has the most anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial benefits in the range of honeys. It also contains vitamins, amino acids and minerals…and it is good to use such an ingredient when body scrubbing…since you will expose your skin. Using raw honey is very important since without being processed, the honey will keep all the power of the ingredients as well as alive beneficial enzymes! Mixed with fine raw sugar, this is a totally organic treatment with the benefits of a full body massage.

The spa offers two holistic styles of massage, both revered as ancient and sacred taonga;

MIRIMIRI MASSAGE begins with an ancient Maori prayer and powhiri (welcome) to honor you and your ancestors, followed by deeply relaxing therapeutic massage with native kawakawa oil to raise the vibration of your physical body. Your mauri (life essence) and wairua (spirit) are encouraged to synchronize thus giving a sense of well-being, connectedness and balance. Mirimiri massage also works on the central nervous system aiding the release of tension and stress, bequeathing you deep relaxation, and a sense of clarity and rejuvenation.

ROMIROMI MASSAGE is the deeper of the traditional holistic Maori body treatments. Similar to Hawaii’s lomilomi, it combines body alignment, deep-tissue massage and stimulation of pressure points to aid the release of cellular blockages, toxins, pain and extraneous energy, replacing these with positive energy and vitality. Natural body systems are invigorated, nourished and balanced and the extraordinary lightness felt after treatment demonstrates a positive shift to greater well-being and health.

For a quick lift, WILDERNESS SPA third taonga is a facial Mud Mask with local Rotorua thermal mud and native Manuka Honey that’s complemented by Western traditions Aloe Vera and Sweet Almond Oil, creating a facial and neck treatment that cleanses, detoxifies and soothes.

Typical Treetops’ guests enjoy walking previously untrodden paths at Treetops offers genuinely new experiences within a choice of day spa and residential wellness programs to inspire, refresh and brighten their journeys.

The dedicated spa has been developed with sensitivity to sustainability, environmental responsibility, indigenous and cultural learning and careful consideration to integrating the best in wilderness environment with good business practices at the same time. Offering two spa therapy rooms, sauna, and healing lounge opening directly onto the Treetops private wilderness. Two wooden outdoor Jacuzzis (available to guests 24/7), set amongst 800-year-old virgin forest, use water sourced from a dedicated, deep spring, which also provides drinking water of exceptionally high quality.

Every experience at the spa and within Treetops Wellness programs are based on maximum enjoyment and understanding of its pristine wilderness environment. Treetops offers exceptional Cuisine based on healthy eating of which many ingredients are estate reared, expertly prepared by a culinary specialist and chosen to lead you towards greater health and vitality. Guests are encouraged and invited to explore via sign posted hiking, biking and horse-riding trails suited to all ages. Trout fishing, riding, lakes, streams, bird life and game animals are carefully explained with comprehensive maps or by our professional guides; four new wetland habitats increasingly attract rare and endangered waterfowl.

This is a unique, personal encounter with Treetop’s gamekeepers and specialist wild food chefs on this 2500 -acre year-round lush wilderness estate and 2018 winner of the World Travel Awards - Responsible Tourism Award (4th time winner). A multi awarded lodge it maintains sustainable and responsible lodging and estate practices, with the third time win of this award proving that eco-friendly definitely does not mean compromising luxury. This is a must do experience for lodge guests.

The Estate to Plate safari is fully guided by gamekeepers and starts with a visit to our Manuka Honey aviaries producing wild native comb honey of exceptional quality and flavor, then it is into the heart of the estate to view wild deer; red, fallow, sika, wapiti (elk) and water buffalo, wild pig, sheep, rabbit, pheasant, partridge, seasonal geese and duck which are organically reared and 100% pesticide free. Then it is back to the lodge and the safari concludes with an optional tour of our kitchen gardens. View seasonal, heritage varieties of indigenous vegetables; native spinach (tetragonia), kumara, fresh turmeric, wasabi, native cress, and an abundance of fruit trees. Guests are encouraged to try garden produce, respectfully picking what they wish to taste.

Complementing the Estate to Plate safari is another Treetops Signature experience, the Wild Food Cooking School. Accompanied by a chef or knowledgeable local guide, the Wild Food Cooking School members first forage in the 800-year-old forest such indigenous herbs and tastes as the tangy kawakawa and peppery horopito. Then it’s back to the Lodge’s open-plan kitchen to watch as these are transformed into signature Treetops dishes from an estate that is a literal gourmet food store - showcasing the preparation of organically reared estate reared game meats of venison, buffalo, wild pork and wild poultry plus lessons in the preparation of Brown and Rainbow trout if a guest has been lucky enough to catch themselves from the seven lakes and streams, or a guest is sharing their catch that night with other guests. A swath of unique flavors will incorporate the likes of species of venison and game that you have never tasted before– all cleverly blended with fresh herbs, vegetables, and flavors unique to New Zealand.

It is not just the participants of the Estate to Plate safari that experience the wild food of Treetops. The philosophy of Estate to Plate is showcased at every meal and snack at the lodge. Our commitment to serving where at all possible estate reared and produced, evolves from the traditional regional tables of the world’s great, self- reliant country estates before refrigeration, freezers and pre-packs – but with 21st century twists.

Our chef sources from the estate garden daily and our gamekeepers manage our estate reared produce, process and deliver to the lodge. By late morning, our chef is at his desk crafting dishes to the preferred tastes of that night’s guests. The menus are European contemporary, using simple techniques to bring out the clear, fresh flavors – but remember every season is different and so with the dishes.

The Estate to Plate safari is based on a minimum of two guests and you need to allow a minimum one hour and allow additional time for the Wild Food Cooking School. Both experiences are subject to availability and exclusively for in-house guests. Timings depend on season, and we suggest at time of booking they are requested so as to not disappoint.

And so, 18 years after Treetops opening, a newer definition of high-end travel indulges the travelling whims of today, as much as the needs of our earth. Sustainability without compromising luxury. Treetops latest sustainability initiative, added to what is STILL New Zealand’s most sustainably built lodge, goes a notch further by embracing local community and ambitious social programming.

Yes, luxury can be sustainable without compromising the luxury.

The scale of the lodge is huge with 2500 hectares of virgin forest across five mountains, but the experience is intimate – just 14 guest rooms and villas. Construction used native trees felled and milled on site. Mass planting programs are aided by keen Treetops guests and more than 250,000 habitat enhancing plants and sustainable forest have been planted on the estate to date. Long before the now four wetland habitats were created, micro hydro was designed into the concepts to provide energy self-sufficient for the lodge. Wading and dabbling species of bird life and trout have seen a steady increase as have our trout stocks. Intensive predator programs control maximum gain for flora and fauna. The mineral water on tap, shower, bath and to drink – is the purist seen anywhere on the planet – and it is 100% natural and unprocessed, scientifically proved to be the purest on-site water in New Zealand.

Cuisine here follows the Estate to Plate philosophy, it is organic 100% pesticide free, as it should be – this is a true wilderness estate. A real resource designed for sustainability and a guest delight; Treetops is less physical than personal. Treetops fosters local talent, we support/sponsor micro-enterprise initiatives like our local artesian who carves from 5000-year-old swap Kauri and New Zealand art works for sale to guests throughout the lodge. Everything from the lodge’s 70 km adventure trails, Manuka Honey hives, on-site wild game 4WD safaris, organic produce gardens, Maori medicinal and wild food foraging produce for the Wild Food Cooking School is tended, guided, harvested, or hand-picked where can be by our local Kiwis. And the 250,000 sustainable forest that has been planted on the site to date means carbon emission from every guest that visited Treetops from the farthest parts of the world has already been paid by carbon credits.

Here, sustainability is a social endeavour.

Treetops Lodge Responsible Tourism Policies:

ENERGY: Long before the wetland habitats were created, Micro hydro was designed into the concepts to provide energy self-sufficiency for the lodge.

DRINKING WATER: Water is supplied for guest consumption by a deep natural spring; this provides guests the opportunity to consume, bathe and shower in the highest quality mineral water seen on the planet.

WASTEWATER: Treetops runs comprehensive bio cycle aeration plants, with trickle irrigation for all grey water after treatment. BUILD: The lodge’s elegant, ecology-inspired architectural style derived from the country’s pioneering past, with timber and stone finishes echoing the natural beauty and simplicity of the great outdoors. There was a careful selection of dead and down trees, milling on site, selecting rock to assist in the construction – the main lodge and villas resulted in a highly integrated building concept to support the archeological and geographical important features. Particular attention has also been given to the design – high levels of insulation, heat recovery and recycling systems, double-glazing with low heat transmission glass, orientating the building to maximize sun collection.

RECYCLING: Refuge from the lodge and estate is recycled and constant and regular monitoring is done monthly. The waste is processed onsite or recycled. Plastic, glass and paper is collected and supplied to recovery/recycling plants. Organic waste is run through composting plants and then through trickle irrigation to enhance plant life.

HABITAT: Mass planting programs – in excess of 100,000 planted on the site. Carbon emission from every guest visited Treetops from the farthest part of the world, with the number of trees planted, has already been paid by carbon credits. The creation of four wetland habitat areas for wading and dabbling species of bird life and trout. They are witnessing a steady increase in bird life. Wetland habitat is periodically attracting blue ducks which are on the endangered species list. Intensive predator programs to control maximum gain for flora and fauna. The predator program has been successful by steadily reducing the numbers that prey on our indigenous species.

LOCAL COMMUNITY & HERITAGE: Tear fund – we support/sponsor micro-enterprise initiatives, by the provision of micro-enterprise or loans to the organization. E.g., local artisan Wayne Ross carvings from 5000-year-old swamp Kauri wood which in turn is sold through the lodge to guests. Promote through specialist cultural activities at the lodge for example Indigenous Spa experiences, Maori Food Trails, Maori Cultural performances we employ local iwi (Maori tribe) for activities using their historical knowledge, and of course we employ from our local community

We are a world leader in providing authentic cultural and wildlife experiences through our own Treetops Lodge Signature Experiences program.