Absolute city & capital centre Holiday Rentals

If you choose to rent a holiday home in a city or capital center you can afford yourself the luxury of being in the center of the cultural and night life in a busy area and still feeling the tranquility of being at home in your holiday home or rental apartment. One may opt for apartments close to the city center near the different theme parks and multi- storey malls.

Centers of the cities provide options for historical sightseeing. You can visit many museums and historic buildings. You could easily spend a number of days just touring around the town, so be sure to schedule a few days just to visit the center of the interesting city. Once you have satisfied your cultural and historic bent, you may want to loosen up with some nightlife. The city has many shops, both large and small to satisfy your shopping urge.

An increasing number of tourists are now looking at the option of city center apartments for their stay. These apartments proffer a variety of locations to suit the needs of different people. These are ideally suited for people wanting to have a quiet break away from city routine humdrum.

Apart from this, apartments also go easy on the pocket are therefore preferred by majority. A long stay in a hotel would undoubtedly be quite expensive while the same in an apartment would be much cheaper. People also like the exclusivity provided by these apartments. Different rental apartment choices are available to suit individual tastes. These options range from small one room ones to swanky ones fully loaded with top-notch facilities.

New Zealand

New Zealand receives upwards of 2 million tourists per year and is marketed as a "clean, green" adventure playground.

While the usual perception of the New Zealand Travel industry is one of backpackers and bungy-jumping, Tourism New Zealand is now making a concerted effort to target the short-stay, high-spending tourist. These have been identified as "Interactive Travellers" and comprise those people who are just beginning to use the internet for their travel research.

Planning a New Zealand holiday can be a very confusing and stressful exercise for those of whom, New Zealand is a first time destination. Due to this demand there has been a huge growth in online travel agents.

To meet this demand, New Zealanders are creating luxury lodges by the dozens and perfecting the art of the "homestay" through what is known as "Guest and Hosted" lodges, top-class bed and breakfasts, and boutique hotels. The days of the back-packing European are not numbered, but it is clear from sites such as Luxury New Zealand that the general tone of the tourist industry in New Zealand in rising and is expected to continue to do so. To date, Qualmark, the official New Zealand rating service, has over 160 5-star accommodation providers on its list. Many of these are recognised by international rating organisations such as Andrew Harper, Small Luxury Hotels and Relais & Chateaux.

The vast majority of tourist arrivals in New Zealand come through Auckland International Airport which handled over 11 million passengers in 2004. Compare this with the 18 million passengers handled through Dubai and you have an impression of the tourist volume this country is experiencing.

Did you know that

• New Zealand is one of the first countries in the world to see the dawn.
• New Zealand’s highest mountain is Aoraki/Mt Cook, at 3,754 metres.
• New Zealand is also known as Aotearoa in the Māori language which means Land of the Long White Cloud, the name given to New Zealand by the maori.
• Auckland is the biggest city with over 1.2 million people and Wellington is the capital city.

Most tourist arrivals are through international airports at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Popular destinations include:

• Rotorua • Waitomo Caves • Coromandel Peninsula • Marlborough Sounds • Fiordland, including Milford Sound • Queenstown • Auckland • Christchurch • Bay of Islands • Taupo • Dunedin • Hawke's Bay

Ski resorts

Awakino, Broken River, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Coronet Peak, Craigieburn, Fox Peak, Hanmer Springs Ski Area, Invincible Snowfields, Lake Stella, Manganui, Mount Cheeseman, Mount Olympus, Mount Robert, Mt Dobson Ski Area, Mt Lyford Ski Area, Mt Potts, Mt. Hutt Ski Area, Ohau Ski Area Ltd., Porter Heights Ski Area Ltd., Rainbow Ski Area, Temple Basin, The Remarkables Ski Area, Treble Cone, Tukino, Turoa Ski Resort Ltd, Whakapapa

Beach resorts

North Island, Bay of Islands, Paihia; North Island, Bay of Islands, Russell; North Island, Northland, Matauri Bay; Taipa Bay Beach Resort, Waiheke Island's Onetangi Bay. Karikari Peninsula's Beaches, Coopers Beach, Hot Water Beach, Mount Maunganui's Ocean Beach, Kaiteriteri Beach, Abel Tasman National Park's Beaches, Abel Tasman, Milford Sound, Cook Strait, Coromandel, Castlepoint, Wellington coast, Bay of Islands, Westcoast, Auckland coast, Whale Island, Porirua Harbour, Wgtn Harbour, Spirits Bay, Bay of Plenty, Eastcoast, Kapiti Coast, Christchurch, Okarito

Spa resorts

Kimi Ora Spa Resort in Kaiteriteri, BAYVIEW CHATEAU TONGARIRO - Mt Rapehu, BEC SPA RESORT - Blenheim, BETHELLS BEACH COTTAGES - Waitakere, Auckland, BUSHLAND PARK LODGE & NICKEL STRAUSSE - Whangamata, CLUB HABITAT NZ LTD - Taupo, CORONET ALPINE RESORT - Queenstown, EDGEWATER HOTEL RESORT - Wanaka, FLAGSTAFF LODGE - Russell, Bay of Islands, GRAND MERCURE PUKA PARK RESORT - Coromandel Peninsula, HERITAGE HOTEL & SPA DU VIN - Auckland, HIWINUI COUNTRY ESTATE AND HEALTH SPA - Palmerston North, HUKA VILLAGE LAKE TAUPO - Taupo, JOHN SCOTT'S STILLPOINT YOGA RETREAT - Nelson, KIMI ORA HOLIDAY AND HEALTH RESORT - Nelson, KINA COLADA Bed and Breakfast / Health Spa - Tasman, LAKE TEKAPO SCENIC RESORT - Lake Tekapo, LAKES RESORT - Pauanui, Coromandel Peninsula, MERCURY BAY BEACHFRONT RESORT - Coromandel, MILLBROOK RESORT - Queenstown, NUGGET POINT BOUTIQUE HOTEL - Queenstown, OASIS RESORT - Taupo, OCEAN BREEZE RESORT - Pauanui, Coromandel, OCEANS RESORT - Tutukaka, PAIHIA BEACH RESORT & SPA - Bay of Islands, PALM PACIFIC RESORT - Whangamata, PUJJIS - Nelson, PUNGA COVE RESORT - Marlborough Sounds, RIDGE COUNTRY RETREAT - Tauranga, SHUNYATA - Diamond Harbour, TAIPA BAY RESORT - Doubtless Bay, TERRACE DOWNS - Canterbury, THE GODLEY RESORT HOTEL - Lake Tekapo, THE PORTAGE RESORT HOTEL - Marlborough Sounds, THE RESIDENCE - Lake Tekapo, VEDIC HEALTH MATAKANA - Warkworth, WAIHEKE ISLAND RESORT AND CONFERENCE FACILITIES - Waiheke Island, WAIRAKEI RESORT - Taupo, WHAREKAUHAU - Wellington, WORLDMARK - Rotorua, Pacific Rendezvous - Northland

Golf regions

AUCKLAND: Gulf Harbour G & CC, Formosa Golf Resort; COROMANDEL PENINSULA: Lakes Resort Pauanui; HAWKES BAY: Cape Kidnappers; TAUPO: Wairakei International Golf Course; CHRISTCHURCH: Clearwater Resort, Terrace Downs High Country Resort; QUEENSTOWN: Millbrook, Queenstown Golf Club; BAY OF ISLANDS: Kauri Cliffs