The Mayfair

The Mayfair opened in July 2022 as a purpose-built, 67-room boutique luxury hotel on Victoria Street, with several rooms overlooking Hagley Park and the Southern Alps. Its restaurant, Majestic at Mayfair, and a well-regarded café have helped it pick up early awards attention, and the property changed hands for NZ$31.9 million in October 2024.

The place

On Victoria Street in Christchurch Central, a 10-minute walk from the Te Pae convention centre and close to Hagley Park, with top-floor rooms looking out over the park to the Southern Alps.

The concept

Four years and roughly NZ$23 million in the making, The Mayfair is a purpose-built, five-storey boutique hotel that opened in July 2022, its black-glass-and-concrete exterior making a deliberate statement on Victoria Street. It has 67 rooms, several with panoramic views over Hagley Park, ranging from 32 to 52 square metres. The hotel positions itself as a relaxed, unstuffy take on luxury: general manager Ritch Crannitch has described its ambition as luxury that is 'relaxed, thoughtful, and welcoming' rather than formal. That positioning built a reputation quickly enough for the property to be sold to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand for NZ$31.9 million in October 2024, just over two years after opening.

Dining & wellness

Majestic at Mayfair is the hotel's all-day restaurant and cocktail bar, known for a brunch menu from executive chef Nick Tatom and a French-patisserie-led high tea service; the hotel also runs an award-winning café.