New Zealand · Canterbury · Christchurch
Hoon Hay, Christchurch — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Hoon Hay is an outer Christchurch suburb in New Zealand, at the base of the Port Hills, some 5 kilometres southwest of Cathedral Square.
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Where to stay in Hoon Hay
The practical side of choosing where to sleep.
Hoon Hay sits at the foot of the Port Hills. Rooms here are domestic rather than commercial, and anyone booking should weigh the closeness of the Port Hills against the 5 kilometres of suburb between this ground and Cathedral Square. Hotel rooms are the rare find here.
The Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River passes nearby, and the Cracroft House Servants Quarters (Former) is the one building the register names inside Hoon Hay.
Find hotels in Hoon Hay
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
The Port Hills foot
Hoon Hay meets the Port Hills along its upper edge, the shortest approach to the slope from this side of Christchurch. Lodging is scarce in this area; reserve in advance.Find hotels in The Port Hills footthe Hoon Hay ground around the old servants quartersCracroft
The Cracroft House Servants Quarters (Former) is the surviving trace of the household work once done on this side of Hoon Hay. Beds are limited here, so book early.Find hotels in Cracroftstreets facing the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River worksŌpāwaho / Heathcote River
Flood mitigation work on the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River turned up stumps of the tōtara woodland that fire cleared from Hoon Hay. Rooms are few around here — worth securing early.Find hotels in Ōpāwaho / Heathcote Rivera central base 5 kilometres from Hoon HayCathedral Square
Cathedral Square lies about 5 kilometres from Hoon Hay and carries the hotel rooms an outer suburb at the hill base does not.Find hotels in Cathedral SquareHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
About Hoon Hay
What are the main landmarks in Hoon Hay?
One heritage structure survives. The Cracroft House Servants Quarters (Former) is the single building the register attaches to Hoon Hay, standing on the ground beneath the Port Hills rather than in any village core. Fire took the rest.
Stumps of the tōtara that once grew here surfaced during flood mitigation work on the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, which is as close to a monument as this outer corner of Christchurch comes.
What is the history of Hoon Hay?
Captain Wickham Talbot Harvey named the place. An officer of the British Royal 10th Hussars, he moved here in 1852 and borrowed the name of Hoon in Derbyshire, where the farm he grew up on stood. He lasted four years.
Fire destroyed his property and sent him back to the United Kingdom, and further fires burned off the woodland, several large tōtara among it, leaving farmland where forest had been. Stumps of that forest still turn up along the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.
Where is Hoon Hay?
Hoon Hay lies at the base of the Port Hills, about 5 kilometres southwest of Cathedral Square and near the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Hoon Hay?
The Port Hills foot: walking straight up into the Port Hills. Cracroft: the Hoon Hay ground around the old servants quarters. Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River: streets facing the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River works. Cathedral Square: a central base 5 kilometres from Hoon Hay.
More areas in Christchurch
Updated October 2026