Rutherford Hotel Nelson

About this place

Rutherford Hotel Nelson is the largest hotel in Nelson and, at its Trafalgar Square site with a 27 Nile Street West address, occupies the city's tallest building. It is operated under the Heritage Hotels banner as a full-service, city-centre property, and it is the default choice in the region for organisers who need a single venue that can house delegates, plenary sessions and a gala dinner under one roof.

The offer

• 113 guest rooms across a range of room types, refurbished in a contemporary style, each with a private bathroom.
• On-site leisure facilities including an outdoor pool, a sauna and a gymnasium.
• A central location within walking distance of Queens Gardens, the Suter Art Gallery, Trafalgar Street retail and Nelson's restaurant strip.

Meetings and events

The hotel's conference floor is the largest hotel-based event offering in Nelson. Published information from the hotel and its trade listings describes up to eight function spaces on the ground floor, served by a separate foyer entrance, a built-in registration area and an adjoining outdoor courtyard for breaks and informal networking. Rooms have high ceilings, natural light and in-built audio-visual equipment, including a built-in projector screen.

Headline capacities include:

• Maitai 1 and 2 combined — approximately 585 square metres, with capacity for up to 700 guests for a cocktail function.
• Waimea and Wairau combined — approximately 297 square metres, with capacity for around 250 guests for a cocktail function.
• Individual rooms configure for boardroom, classroom, theatre, U-shape and banquet setups, scaling down to small committee meetings.

The practical result is a venue that can run a multi-stream conference with concurrent breakouts, then reset a large room for a banquet or ball. The hotel's own materials note 24-hour service, which suits residential conferences and delegate arrivals on late flights.

Dining

Oceano Panorama Restaurant is the main outlet, serving a seasonal menu and a breakfast buffet. Port o' Call Bar handles pre-dinner drinks and informal sessions, and Atom Cafe covers coffee and quick service. The hotel was formerly home to Miyazu Japanese Restaurant, winner of the Best Restaurant Nelson/Tasman title at the 2014 Aronui Dine Out Awards; that restaurant has since closed permanently.

History

The hotel opened on 18 December 1972 as the DB Rutherford Hotel and was officially opened by Prime Minister Norman Kirk. Its liquor licence traces back through the Central Hotel — formerly the Freemasons' Arms on the corner of Trafalgar and Bridge Streets, holder of one of the first eight liquor licences issued in the Nelson area in 1842 — which DB Breweries closed in December 1972 when the licence was transferred to the new building. The hotel takes its name from Nelson-born physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford.

Suitability

For conferences of up to several hundred delegates, association meetings, awards dinners and incentive groups that want accommodation, catering and plenary space on one site, Rutherford Hotel Nelson is the anchor property among Nelson venues.