Reviews

Oct 8 2022

For the third year running, Owen River Lodge is a winner in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. This is an award that we definitely can’t win ourselves. Your votes win it for us. So thank you, thank you, thank you for each of those years you’ve voted for us. For your loyalty and support. We’ll keep working our hardest to give you the very best luxury fly fishing experience that we can, here in beautiful New Zealand.

Aug 5 2022

It’s awards season! Last Wednesday we bagged one that’s very close to our hearts: Best Environmental/Sustainable Business at the Hospitality New Zealand 2022 Awards for Excellence.

We keep saying we jumped through all the hoops for B Corp Certification and Climate Positive accreditation because it’s the right thing to do—and we mean it. But damn, it feels good to have the industry recognise these achievements as well!

As always, thanks to our very special ORL family. This win is yours. And thanks also to our very special guests, who inspire us to be better and to do right.

Mar 21 2022

Owen River Lodge is the world’s first B Corp-certified fishing lodge!

Owen River Lodge is the first accommodation provider in New Zealand and the first fishing lodge in the world—to be recognised as a Certified B Corporation, or B Corp.

For more info, check out our blog post explaining this significant mile stone !

Oct 19 2021

World Travel Awards serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry.

Owen River lodge was voted by our guests and the travel industry as New Zealand’s leading lodge

World Travel Awards 2021

Oct 6 2021

For the second year running, Owen River Lodge is a winner in the Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific resort category—one of only two New Zealand luxury resorts to make the cut

Condé Nast Traveler’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards

Aug 3 2021

Owen River Lodge has made history!

Last Wednesday Owen River Lodge won the prestigious Qualmark 100% Pure Experience Awards, this arguably makes us the most-awarded fishing lodge in New Zealand

I may have accepted the award, but it truly belongs to the wonderful team at Owen River Lodge .
It comes as no surprise but its been a tough 18 months, but we opened as usual, the team still have their jobs and we all look forward to a bright future showing our guests the very best in kiwi hospitality and fly fishing.

Qualmark 100% Pure Experience Award

Oct 7 2020

ORL a winner with Condé Nast Traveler!

Second in New Zealand; fifth overall in Australia and the South Pacific—the results are in for Condé Nast Traveler’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards and Owen River Lodge is a winner!

The category we’ve won in—The Top 25 Resorts in Australia and the South Pacific—is certainly no pushover. It was open to all luxury accommodation providers and, like the other New Zealand operators featured in the winners list, many of these are members of large, global chains. None of them are dedicated fly fishing lodges. Which makes our place right up near the top all the sweeter.

Owen River Lodge has been honoured with a slew of awards in the last three years, most of them industry-based. This one was different—it was determined by votes from guests and well-wishers. And while it’s always great to be recognised by your peers in the industry, the feeling that comes from seeing the depth of your guests’ loyalty and goodwill in action is just incredible. I can’t describe how moving it is.

So, on behalf of the Owen River Lodge team, I want to thank everyone who voted for us and who has wished us well in this extremely testing year. Many of you are not able to physically come and stay but we live in hope that we will see you again sooner rather than later. As the fish get bigger and fatter, we’ll continually work to innovate and improve. And when you do make it back, we’ll be better placed than ever to show you the luxury angling experience of a lifetime.

Stay safe and well.

Conde Nast Traveler Magazine

Oct 24 2019

Well we did it again, wining a New Zealand Tourism Industry award - 2 years running!

Read all about our win here: https://www.owenriverlodge.co.nz/blog/its-officialorl-provides-nzs-best-visitor-experience/

Sep 8 2018

Owen River Lodge wins prestigious NZ Tourism award !

Owen River Lodge becomes the first fishing lodge in the country to win at the New Zealand Tourism Awards.

Read all about our win here: https://www.owenriverlodge.co.nz/blog/owen-river-lodge-scoops-nz-tourism-awards

May 2 2018

Qualmark awards Owen River Lodge Luxury Lodge status !

I am delighted to announce that Qualmark, the independent accommodation agency wholly owned by Tourism New Zealand, has just awarded Owen River Lodge its prestigious Luxury Lodge certification. This is the highest level of certification in New Zealand.

Qualmark has also given us a Gold Sustainable Tourism Business Award—which means Owen River Lodge is now the most highly-accredited fishing lodge in New Zealand.

Feb 18 2017

Fodors

We are thrilled to have been awarded the Fodors Editor’s Choice award for each of the previous 6 years- 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

“One of the classiest of several top fly-fishing lodges in this region,the six beautifully appointed cottages of Owen River Lodge, each fronted by sheltered verandas, overlook the Owen River valley. From the main dining room you can look across the valley to a large granite escarpment with native forest. Outside, the rush of the river is outdone only by the sometimes-overwhelming chorus of native birds.

Host Felix Borenstein purpose-built this little piece of paradise. He is a die-hard fly fisherman who has a strong passion for throwing furry little feathered flies into the sublime reaches of the area’s many trout rivers. He delights in the fact that much of the fishing here is sighted fishing and stalking, but also catch-and-release to preserve the stock.

From the lodge you can access 25 fishing rivers within a 90-minute drive, plus many more by helicopter. Back at the lodge you can relax in the cozy lounge, or wander the landscaped grounds, including the massive vegetable garden that supplies much of what arrives on your dining room table (dinner and breakfast is inclusive).”

May 25 2016

We are honored to have been awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2016. This is the 7th year in a row we have been awarded TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence and I would like to thank the great team of people that choose to work at Owen River Lodge and all of our fantastic guests that have taken the time to write a TripAdvisor review!

May 20 2015

TripAdvisor : Hall of Fame Award

TripAdvisor have given us two awards this month; we have been given a Certificate of Excellence for 2015, this is the 6th year in a row we have been given this award.

As a result of this, TripAdvisor have inducted us into their Hall of Fame !

TripAdvisor

Jul 7 2014

TripAdvisor Award

We are honoured to have been awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2014. This is the 5th year in a row we have been awarded TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence and I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests that have taken the time to write a TripAdvisor review!

TripAdvisor, NZ

Oct 12 2008

Gold Enviro Qualmark

In 2008 we were given Qualmark’s highest level of environmental sustainability when we were awarded Enviro Gold status. Qualmark is New Zealand tourism’s official quality rating system for accommodation providers and the broader tourism industry.

​Qualmark, NZ

Awards & acknowledgements

Owen River Lodge NZ: “Fly fishing at its very best”

Ph: +64 3 523 9075 Address: Owen Valley East Road, Murchison, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand

Email: fish@elevenangling.com