Lavender Hill Accommodation and Distillery — Hotel in Rodney

Updated with a reply to owner's response: Hi there, thank you for your response. We'd like to clarify a few points here. First, there's nowhere in your website indicating that a tour needs to be booked nor an appointment needs to be made to visit the farm. We specifically asked via email "By distilling on the 6th, does that mean that only farm tours are unavailable? Or is the whole farm closed?" It was mentioned in your reply that you still have the lavender and twenty varieties in your property to see (despite having no farm tours available today because of the distilling), so naturally, we would take that as your farm could still be visited for viewing and more so when you mentioned that you have olive and lemon trees as well as the sheep and alpacas. How were we supposed to know that we need an appointment or a farm tour to be booked when it's nowhere in your site nor in your email? If we knew this in the first place, why would we even bother asking if the farm is open when we know that we can't view any part of the property without a tour?

Second, I emailed back to say that I confused you with the berry picking that we also had planned that day, hence the mention of PYO. I didn't mistake you for another lavender farm.

Third, it's disappointing that it now seems that our going there was all our mistake and that you're not taking any accountability in confusing us with your reply that the rest of the farm was available to see even when your farm tour isn't proceeding today because of the distilling.

There are other farms that can be visited by just walking in, so to expect us to know the difference between yourself and other farms when you don't make it explicit in your website / email is unfair.

The one star rating is not a rating for the farm tour which we didn't have the chance to book. It's because of all this confusion and having us guess how things work.

Your website and email are highly confusing. We understand that you schedule your farm tours around your guests. We weren't insisting on having one of our own. But if you require an appointment / farm tour to be booked in order to even enter the farm and not as B&B guests, then that should've been made clear in either your website / email.

Lastly, we weren't going to visit on the 5th but had to cancel as you mentioned in your response. We were asking about the 6th and you suggested going for the farm tour on the 5th instead as you were distilling on the 6th. I then replied to say that we couldn't make it on the 5th as my partner was working. So we were never planning on going on the 5th and canceled.

Original Feedback: We visited Lavender Hill today, only to find out at the gate that they're closed. This is considering that we emailed them a few days back to specifically ask if the whole farm was closed on the 6th or if only their farm tours were unavailable because of the distilling (we initially emailed them to pre-book a slot for the farm tours) - to which they replied "We will still have our Grosso (French lavender) and twenty varieties on the steep part of our property to see...We have olive and lemon trees as well as sheep and alpacas."

So we made the trip there, all excited to see the fields / trees and animals. Then we reach the place and the entire farm is closed. It was a good thing that we had plans to go berry picking in the same area, otherwise, we would've driven all the way to Riverhead...

I had a fantastic afternoon at Lavender Hill Farm. Although the farm is closed for tours at the moment (out of season), Trish was just so accommodating and gave me a private tour of their 7 acre farm, as well as a gin and limoncello tasting 🍶

The three I had the privilege of tasting included a bold saffron infused gin (my favourite), a smokey honey infused gin 🐝🐝, and a delightful lavender infused gin. The shot of frozen Limoncello was fresh and fragrant 😋

They grow different types of lavender, which blooms between October and February, when it will be harvested to make their amazing lavender products including soaps, essential oils, gin, lotions, etc. (available for purchase on their website year round) 🧼

At the moment they are harvesting olives, and will be making oil and other products over the next few weeks 🌳

They have a lemon orchid, which they use to make their own delicious limoncello 🍋🍋

There are also some friendly sheep 🐑🐑 and loveable alpacas to feed. I absolutely adore alpacas! They were a bit shy initially, but shaking the feeding bucket sent them running 🦙🦙

Apart from that, they also run a little bed and breakfast. There are 4 rooms with en suites, and a communal kitchen and living area 🛏🛏🛏🛏 Usually family or friends will rent all 4 rooms together, for a great little getaway on a lovely working farm with spectacular views over the Waitakere Ranges, and even Sky City 😲

It was great having a walk around the farm, and being shown the inner workings. I will definitely go back when the lavender is in bloom, and spend some time there, and...

Wow! If you are looking to book a stay near Auckland this is truly a unique home with things to do without even leaving the property. Trish the owner was above and beyond in hospitality. She was ultra timely in response and helping with any recommendations. She made our entire 8 family members feel like we were the only people in the world. We were greeted with warmth and welcome. She scheduled a private tour of the farm and distillery, as well as, a fun tasting of their amazing gin selections. She also made sure we were supplied with plenty of snacks (with home made bread) in our pantry and had pellets for us to feed the cutest alpacas that live on their farm. Absolutely stunning location easy access to what ever activities you are looking for in the area. Even just taking a walk through the sprawling neighborhood was a pleasure with amazing views of downtown Auckland - but located out of the hustle and bustle. I am still thinking about this experience at Lavender Hill 4 months later and will not soon forget it. Keep up the great work Trish (my hospitality sister on the other side...