Here we are, the year 2020, the start of a new decade.
And how fast does a year go by! It’s amazing to think of all the things that have happened over the past year at Aura! In 2019 we had lots of changes and improvements to both the property and day-to-day operations and so we decided to recap a few of the many highlights from the past year!
Renovations
Our renovations all kicked off in May. We decided that two weeks should be enough time to not only re-surface the pool but also renovate eight bathrooms and a kitchen. Everything needed to be finished just in time for a busy and fully booked Queen’s birthday weekend so it was a huge project and while the weather certainly didn’t give us the easiest of conditions, we worked right up until the end and finished on time! Our beautifully resurfaced pool is sparkly blue and awaiting your arrival!
Sustainability
Behind the scenes, we were also making changes. Lucy, our aura-some sustainability guru guided the staff through the transition to chemical-free cleaning and her extensive research led us to discover Enjo which the Aura housekeeping team now proudly use. Over a few weeks we trained our staff up on the new methods and everyone quickly got on-board! Better for the environment and better for our staff, Aura has now been mostly chemical free for five months!
*Update December 2021 – we currently have our chemical free cleaning on hold due to the nature of COVID-19.
Throughout 2019, we continued to encourage our guests to become conscientious consumers. From re-usable cups, to paper lined rubbish bins we constantly searched for areas in which we could lessen our environmental footprint. We decided to get rid of the old tetra pak milk cartons and instead bottle the milk into our own glass milk bottles which can be re-used. Our in-room compost bins helped us to divert 799 kg of organic waste from the landfill and our outside compost bins got a face lift! In addition to this, we also partnered with a local pig farmer from Waimungu who collects our non-compostable food waste each week to take home, meaning we have no food waste going to the landfill!
Our Send-your-Service initiative continued to thrive in 2019 with 1,365 of our guests opting to forfeit their daily room service for a $5 donated. This pushed our total donation amount to Big Brothers, Big Sister’s of Rotorua to over $10,000.
Guests
In 2019 we hosted 8,145 guests from over 61 countries. And as every year, we had loads of fun doing it! During Easter, we had decorations pop up all over the property for a special weekend of treats and Easter egg hunting. We hosted teams and individuals for the always popular events such as the Ekiden Race, Tarawera Ultra and Rotorua Marathon and we finished the year off with an aura-some Christmas Countdown full of wonderful memories from guests all over the world.
After thousands of cornhole games, many hours in the pool and lots of family time around the BBQ, 2019 came to an end. We are super excited to see what 2020 has in store, and if you are booked in to come visit in the near future, we can’t wait!
To keep up to date with the latest happenings this year, be sure to follow our Facebook or Instagram.
Maisie’s Top Tips for families | Mountain Biking Around Rotorua | Adrenaline Junkie – Rotorua | Lucy’s Top Tips for Two Days in Rotorua
