Mangamāhū Hotel — since 1894
Historic hotel and private heritage building in the Whangaehu Valley, New Zealand.
The Mangamāhū Hotel stands in the Whangaehu Valley, northeast of Whanganui. Mangamāhū translates to “gentle stream” in Māori — a name reflected in the creek that runs behind the hotel, curling back through the surrounding hills before meeting the Whangaehu River. Established in 1894 and rebuilt after the 1914 fire, it is a rare surviving rural country hotel — largely unchanged for more than a century. Once the social and practical heart of an isolated farming community, it remains a privately lived-in heritage building shaped by Māori history, settlement, ingenuity, and creative life.
Over the years we have been approached by people wanting to support the restoration of the hotel. Now is the time: the building is in genuine need of care to ensure it can remain weather-tight and secure through the coming winters.
The property is also in the process of being placed into a family trust, with the intention of restoring and safeguarding the hotel for the long term. We are currently seeking support to replace the hotel’s ageing roof, which has not been fully replaced for generations, so the building can be protected for the future.
The Hotel
From its early life as a twelve-bedroom bush hotel, Mangamāhū offered shelter, meals, mail services, and a place to gather. Remarkably modern for its time, it even generated its own electricity in the 1890s using a small hydro-electric system for lighting and ironing.
The Valley
Long before the hotel was built, the Mangamāhū Valley formed part of an important Māori landscape within the rohe of Ngā Wairiki / Ngāti Apa, with enduring connections to neighbouring Whanganui iwi. Mangamāhū means “gentle stream,” a reminder of the waterways that thread through the hills and flow into the Whangaehu River. The Whangaehu River and its tributaries supported seasonal food gathering, travel, and settlement.
People
In 1975 the hotel entered a new chapter as a family home and creative refuge. Artist Mere Keating and photographer Robin White lived here with their daughters, with a wider circle of artists and friends gathering around the place.
