Overview
Let's face it, vacations to far flung locales need a tonne of planning. After wading through Visa applications, hotel bookings in different languages and the infinite itinerary-planning sessions with your laptop open to TripAdvisor at one elbow and a stack of library-issued holiday guides at the other, you've earnt it.
Yet what if you could sidestep all the palaver and take a spontaneous vacation in your own city? Enter the staycation. Book a swanky, newly-opened hotel, pack that book you haven't gotten around to reading yet and switch off the emails for a couple of nights.
If you live in Wellington, you're already halfway there—our little city is easily one of the best around. Far-above-average distribution of amazing food, views and things to do, there'll be plenty you haven't done and just enough to make you want to staycation all the time (my advice? Make staycationing a sometimes food, for when you're really craving some robe time with your slipper-clad feet up. It'll make it that much sweeter). Follow our tips for looking at your own city with new eyes, with our guide to doing the Wellington Staycation right.
Stay
The newly-opened Sofitel Wellington is your ultimate staycay destination. Boasting five stars and part of the luxurious Sofitel global range of hotels, you don't even need to leave the premises if you don't feel like it. The rooms are perfect havens for really unwinding—their luxury suites are large and accommodating, with cloud-like king beds, a pillow menu (?! We love) and the fluffiest robes for that lounging life you'll be leading. The beautiful decor makes for a sumptuous stay, with an elegant French palette and touches of botanical art throughout. Taking endless rain showers, ordering room service at midnight and eating pizza and pudding in bed watching old movies on your flatscreen fulfills your Eloise at the Plaza dreams.
The Sofitel also has the effortlessly chic Green Room for cocktails and canapes if you feel like venturing down from your room, and we would highly recommend the beautiful breakfast buffet in The Jardin Grill, a restaurant straight out from the bistro culture of Paris. You'll be truly looked after here, at the first luxury hotel to open in Wellington for fifteen years. It's been worth the wait.
Explore
While you're on your staycation, you may as well do some pampering. East Day Spa, just around the corner from the Sofitel on Thorndon Quay should do the trick. Uber there, indulge in a facial or massage or their winter warm up package (starting at $170) will leave you floating as you head back to Sofitel to continue your staycation. You deserve this.
While you're out, you may as well get some culture in—Te Papa's Nga Toi has recently replenished their art collections on display, Wellington on a Plate is looming (get excited! This year is better than ever) and music gig venues Meow, Caroline, MOON and San Fran are buzzing with new acts and tunes to get amongst. If you're looking for a new activity, Felicity of Wundaire (profile coming soon!) hosts beautiful ceramic classes from her wee studio in Brooklyn (from $148).
Shop
You've also saved a bomb on international air travel, so why not embark on a little shopping trip to pick up something nice for your staycation dinners out? You'll feel like a new person, and the Sofitel is walking (or Uber, treat yourself) distance from some of the best retail experiences in the country.
Lambton Quay is a hop and a skip from the hotel, along with all of its stores and spots to explore. The reveal of the new reincarnation of Kirkcaldie & Stains, Australian shopping mecca David Jones, is also imminent. Promising to be one of the country's, if not the world's most beautiful department stores, why leave Wellington for the shopping? Brands to be exclusively stocked at the Wellington store include Chloe, Valentino, Christian Louboutin and Saint Laurent, with Tom Ford Beauty to be stocked alongside the old favourites such as Kiehls and MAC.
ENA is the new kid on the block on Ghuznee Street, offering a beautiful retail experience and a super cool platform for emerging labels from both New Zealand and international designers. You'll find raw silks, linens and cottons from Penny Sage, Atelier Delphine and Alexa Stark, beautiful bags from LA-based Building Block, organic luxury skincare by Martina Organics and beautiful jewels from Holly Ryan and other inspiring creatives. Owner Nadya France-White is also a designer (CP profile also on its way), with her inhouse line due to launch next winter.
If you're looking to beautifully outfit your home post-staycation, Vessel on Victoria Street is a beautiful spot for discovering new ceramics pieces, soft woollen blankets and functional, interesting kitchen things. Stocking a revolving range of ceramic pieces from New Zealand artists such as Paul Melser (you've eaten off his dishes if you've visited Loretta), Masan Chidgey, Steve Fullmer and Elise Bishop, Celia is a passionate mother of her store and deeply knowledgeable if you're looking for a special acquisition for your home.
Above photo by Molly Robson.
Eat
As we all well know, Wellington isn't short of some of the best food in the country. A staycation is all about rediscovering your love for your city, so what better time to try something you've never wandered across before?
WBC (Wholesale Boot Company for the unititiated, named for its premises' previous life as a boot factory) is situated on the upper floor of a building on Victoria Street. The space is beautiful, atmospheric and exciting as the food they serve. The menu is truly a work of ever-revolving dishes using the best seasonal produce from the area, with an array of raw, toasts, small plates, mains and "boots 'n' all" (foundation cuts designed to share) options. Checking out the menu online before you go is futile—their options are mainly added to the boards scattered around the restaurant, constantly updated and changed for an ever-exciting and truly evolutionary dining experience. They're open for lunch, dinner or drinks—slot in a visit on one of your wandering days.
If you're pining for an immersive overseas experience, complete with a menu you can't quite decipher and drinks that you've never heard of before, a visit down Cuba Street's Left Bank to Viva Mexico is in order. This little spot is cheap and cheerful, emphasis on the hilariously cheerful, and doesn't cost much for a beautiful Mexican feast. Load up on Jalapenos rellenos (jalapenos stuffed with cheese, $12), delish tacos (starting at $8 for one), enchiladas ($21 small/$24 large), and tortilla soup (something I'd never tried but is a must-taste! $15). Side note: the slushy margaritas in lil jam jars are worth your time too ($20).
If you're looking to connect with your city on a more historical level but still fit in a spot of culture, catch a New Zealand Film Festival flick (running from the 22nd July til 8th August) at the Embassy, Wellington's most beautiful bastion of cinema established in 1924. You may wonder why we've slotted this into the Eat section—you're going to want to, pre-movie or post- (or both?) pop into The Black Sparrow, the little cocktail bar built into the old orchestra pit of the original theatre. The Shelley Indyk-designed space is truly a taste of art deco, with its glossy black fixtures and honeycomb bar facade. The bartenders really know their craft, and will shake or stir you a creation from their literature-inspired list. The Sparrow's premise intertwines with this world: named for the eccentric 1960s publishing house Black Sparrow Press, acclaimed for printing novelists like Bukowski.
And after all that staycationing—the pillow selections, the rain showers, the city wandering, the beautiful foods and interesting spaces, it'll be time to head home—but what's to stop you exploring when you're back in your own bed?