Where to Stay in Napier
Six places to sleep in and around Napier, which suits which trip, and what each gives up
For a first visit of one or two nights, stay in the Art Deco centre or on Marine Parade. The 1930s streets, the museum, the seafront and most of the cafés and restaurants are a flat walk apart, and it had more places in our price sample than any other area. If an evening by the water matters more than the architecture, stay in Ahuriri, the old port, instead.
If you want something else from the stop:
- A view, a garden and a quiet night — Bluff Hill.
- A beach, a family unit and an early flight — Westshore.
- The wineries west of the city — Taradale.
- Vineyards, Te Mata Peak and a village — Havelock North.
Napier is the day-five stop on our two-week New Zealand itinerary, and our guide to Napier covers what to see while you are here.
How this page was madeWe have not yet been to Napier. This page is researched, from the official visitor site, the council, the places’ own websites and our own sample of prices, and we name only places we could confirm are trading. When we stay, we will say so here.
Areas and places to stay reviewed 28 September 2026.
How the areas compare
| Area | First visit | Evenings out | Families | Without a car | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The centre & Marine Parade | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | $$ |
| Ahuriri | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | $$ |
| Bluff Hill | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | Not sampled |
| Westshore | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | $ |
| Taradale | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | $ |
| Havelock North | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | $$ |
The stars are a quick read across the qualities most travellers weigh up — more stars means a stronger fit for that quality, not “better” overall. Price is shown as a band rather than stars, since cheaper isn’t a virtue in itself. Without a car means how much of Napier you can reach on foot from the area.
Price positions are relative to the other areas in this table, not market rates. They come from our own sample of 29 places with a price, on one weekday night in late November 2026, two adults, read on 28 September 2026. The centre, Ahuriri and Havelock North came out close together, Ahuriri about a tenth dearer than the centre; Westshore was about a fifth cheaper. Taradale gave us one place and Bluff Hill’s bed and breakfasts none, so their bands are the weakest on the page.
Where the areas are
The centre sits on the sea below Bluff Hill, which rises behind it to the north. Ahuriri is on the far side of the hill, eight minutes by car, and Westshore is across the estuary beyond it, by the airport. Taradale is fifteen minutes south-west, and Havelock North twenty-three minutes south, just east of Hastings.
A guide to each area
The Art Deco centre & Marine Parade
$$ · the easy baseWhy stay here?
This is the Napier people come to see: the grid of 1930s streets rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake, with Emerson and Tennyson Streets at its heart, and Marine Parade running along the sea in front of it. The museum, the i-SITE, most of the cafés and restaurants and the Saturday farmers’ market in Clive Square are all a flat walk apart, and the Parade’s gardens, playgrounds and the National Aquarium give a family the most to do. It had more places to stay in our sample than anywhere else, motels along the Parade and hotels in the streets behind it. Two things to know: Marine Parade is a busy road, and the beach in front of it is not for swimming.
Good for
- The Art Deco streets on foot
- The widest choice of places to stay
- Cafés, the museum and the Saturday market
Watch for
- Traffic on Marine Parade
- Not a swimming beach: steep and with a strong undertow
- Fills for the Art Deco Festival in February
Ahuriri
$$ · harbour eveningsWhy stay here?
Ahuriri is the old port on the far side of Bluff Hill: warehouses turned into bars and restaurants along West Quay and Hardinge Road, the marina, and the National Tobacco Company building, one of the city’s Art Deco landmarks. It is the best place in the city for an evening out, and its beach, facing north and out of the easterly swell, is where the council posts lifeguards in summer. It is about four flat kilometres from the centre round the coast, walkable or an easy ride by bike and eight minutes by car, and it was a little dearer than the centre in our sample.
Good for
- Dinner and a drink by the water
- The patrolled beach in summer
- Something happening after dark
Watch for
- Four kilometres from the Art Deco centre
- Bars mean noise on some streets
- A little dearer than the centre
Bluff Hill (Mataruahou)
Not sampled · views and quietWhy stay here?
Mataruahou, or Bluff Hill, is the hill between the centre and the port, a quiet residential suburb with a lookout over the port and the bay at its top. It is where we found Napier’s bed and breakfasts: small, quiet, run by their owners and a few minutes from the centre. The hill cuts both ways. The walk down to dinner is easy and the walk back up is steep, and you will eat down in the centre or in Ahuriri. It suits a couple who want a garden and a view more than a family who want space.
Good for
- Quiet nights and a view
- Hosts who know the city
- A short walk down to the centre
Watch for
- A steep walk home after dinner
- Dinner means going down the hill
- Small places that book out early
Westshore
$ · beach and airportWhy stay here?
Westshore is the beach suburb across the estuary from Ahuriri, on a strip of land between the Ahuriri Estuary and the sea and close to Hawke’s Bay Airport. Much of the ground around it was the bed of the Ahuriri Lagoon until the 1931 earthquake lifted it. It is quiet, and it was the cheapest of the areas where our sample found more than one place, with motels on the beach road that have family units and space to park. It is ten minutes’ drive from the centre, and without a car it is out of the way.
Good for
- Lower prices than the centre
- Family units and parking
- Close to the airport
Watch for
- Ten minutes’ drive to the centre
- Very little in the evening
- No real way round without a car
Drive or cycle out to Westshore and stop where the road runs between the estuary and the sea. Look inland, at the flat ground where the airport, the houses and the farms sit, and then at the water still lying in the estuary. Until the morning of 3 February 1931 much of that ground was the Ahuriri Lagoon. The earthquake lifted it by 2.7 metres, and the water drained away; the airport and the farms stand on the old lagoon bed. Then turn round and look at the sea, and think how far it once came in.
Taradale
$ · the wineries’ edgeWhy stay here?
Taradale is a suburb of its own on Napier’s south-western edge, with a shopping street, cafés and, on the hill above it, Mission Estate, founded in 1851. It makes sense if the wineries are the reason for the trip and you have a car: it is fifteen minutes’ drive from the Art Deco centre, and it is close to the wineries on the city’s western edge. Our price sample found only one place here, the cheapest in the whole sample, so treat its band with care.
Good for
- Wineries on the doorstep
- Its own shops and cafés
- Lower prices
Watch for
- Fifteen minutes to the Art Deco centre
- You will need a car
- Our price sample was one place
Havelock North
$$ · vineyards and villageWhy stay here?
Havelock North is a village twenty-one kilometres south of Napier, under Te Mata Peak and among the wineries of the Heretaunga Plains. Its centre is a compact village of cafés, restaurants and shops, and Te Mata Estate, making wine since 1896, and Craggy Range are on the roads just outside it. Choose it if Hawke’s Bay rather than Napier is the point: it is twenty-three minutes’ drive from the Art Deco centre, and nearer Hastings and its Sunday farmers’ market. For a family there is a holiday park as well as motels. Its prices had the widest spread in our sample.
Good for
- The vineyards and Te Mata Peak
- A village centre for dinner
- Near the Sunday farmers’ market
Watch for
- Twenty-three minutes to Napier
- A car for almost everything
- The widest spread of prices
Before you book
Our guide to accommodation in New Zealand covers what applies everywhere: motels, holiday parks, how prices are shown and what to expect at check-in. What follows is what is particular to Napier.
What kind of place you will find
Most of the places in our price sample were motels, many of them along Marine Parade, with a few hotels in the Art Deco streets, bed and breakfasts on Bluff Hill and lodges among the vineyards around Havelock North. Many motel units have a kitchen, which suits a stay of more than a night. Prices shown to you in New Zealand must include GST, the 15% sales tax, unless they say otherwise.
When it fills up
The Art Deco Festival fills the city every February; its next dates are 18 to 21 February 2027, by the festival’s own site. The New Zealand summer holidays, from Christmas to the end of January, fill it too. Book early for either, and expect minimum stays at the festival.
If you have an early flight
Hawke’s Bay Airport is beside Westshore, and its own timetable shows only domestic flights. For a very early departure Westshore is the obvious base; from the centre allow ten to fifteen minutes by car.
Getting between the areas
| To | How | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluff Hill Lookout | Drive, or walk up the steps and streets | 3 km by road | About 8 minutes by car |
| Ahuriri | Drive, or cycle round the coast | 4 km | About 8 minutes by car |
| Westshore | Drive | 5.5 km | About 10 minutes |
| Taradale | Drive | 10 km | About 15 minutes |
| Havelock North | Drive | 21.5 km | About 23 minutes |
Driving times are TomTom estimates with typical traffic, read on 28 September 2026. The Hawke’s Bay Trails, more than 200 kilometres of cycle paths by the official trails site, are the other way between the areas; the site’s maps show which ones they reach.
Our guide to getting around New Zealand covers car hire and the roads.
A final word on staying in Napier
Stay in the centre for a first visit and let the city be small around you: the buildings, the sea and dinner are all a walk away. Go to Ahuriri for the evenings, Bluff Hill for the quiet, Westshore for the price and the airport, and out to Taradale or Havelock North when the wine is the reason you came. Napier is compact enough that none of these is a wrong answer, only a different trip.
Andrew + Margaret
- Napier Overview
- Where to eat in Napier Practical
- New Zealand in two weeks Journeys
- Accommodation in New Zealand Practical
- Getting around New Zealand Practical