Hot spots: Mollies Luxury Boutique Hotel, Auckland

Give a rugby ball a solid punt outside the front door and you'll hit Auckland's Harbour Bridge. Mollies Luxury Boutique Hotel lies close to the heart of New Zealand's largest city, sure, but it can claim the best of both worlds by being in the distinguished suburb of St Marys Bay. Dating from the 1870s, when it started life as the mayor's residence, Mollies became a hotel half a century ago, run by the charismatic Mollie Wilson - hence the name. While Auckland has its fair share of five-stars, business hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, three-storey, gabled Mollies - equally adaptable for both business and leisure travellers - sits squarely in the top rank of boutique accommodation. It is small and smart, and (most importantly) the current husband-and-wife owners, who took over only in October, are in-house and take a personal interest in everything running smoothly.

The overall ambience is like that of a friend-of-a-friend's extremely smart townhouse that has, as an added bonus, put the "it" in heritage. "Public areas" is hardly the term for the lounge, cocktail bar and library, whose walls are bedecked with contemporary art. All exude an air of grace, ease and elegance. Witness the grand piano, which stands open for anyone inclined to tickle the ivories. To the rear of the hotel, the trees, shrubs and wide manicured lawns simply add to the feeling of homeliness.

Some boutique hotels tally their rooms by the score; Mollies has just 10 suites, with those commanding views of the water the most popular. Gentle creams and browns dominate the palette, and each suite has either a balcony or a terrace and an open fireplace, while the bathrooms are crisp, spacious havens of marble. The most luxurious suite, Mollies, occupies the top floor and includes a kitchenette and spa bath. Wherever you're staying, a warm and homely feeling predominates - a happy reminder that this was once a private residence and not a property designed by a hotel architect with an accountant hovering over his shoulder. While there is no spa per se, a therapist is on site (as opposed to on call) and able to deliver a variety of massages and other treatments.

Breakfast is one of the high points of the day at Mollies, with fair-trade coffee, free-range eggs, home-grown herbs and similar eco-amicable produce jostling for prominence on the à la carte menu. Tuck in at the restaurant, or on your balcony. Come evening, the dining room is placed off-limits to the hoi polloi and hotel guests can indulge in New Zealand fare that, like the breakfast, emphasises its organic origins. Given enough notice, the kitchen can cater private dinner parties, either in guests' suites or the dining room. The cellar hosts a fair showing from the country's vineyards, yet overall the wine list is catholic and thoughtfully curated.

Auckland likes to bill itself as a "SuperCity", but from many vantage points this incredibly leafy burg (gardens are the rule, rather than the exception, and high-rises remarkably scant) looks more like a vast agglomeration of tree houses clustered around the totem pole that is the 328-metre Sky Tower. Beaches, sea and harbour - whether for surfing, fishing or a short cruise - are all within easy reach while hiking trails lead off through the forests that edge the city. In the immediate vicinity, Ponsonby and Jervois Road buzz with cafes, restaurants and (Kiwi) designer boutiques.

Rates start at NZ$695 (HK$4,435) per night including breakfast.