Dream with Opera

Auckland five-star boutique hotel Mollies– owned by opera fanatics Frances Wilson and Stephen Fitzgerald– has received a coveted ‘Hideaways of The Year Award’ and is one of Harper’s ‘Longtime Favourite Hideaways in TheWorld’. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Rob McFarland describes the St Mary’s Bay getaway as “the most unashamedly romantic hotel” he has ever stayed in. “I was there on my own and had to constantly fight the urge to propose to one of the staff.” An experienced opera voice coach, Frances makes no apologies for the extravagance, and at pre-dinner drinks says: “I like to make every evening a romantic occasion. I love having far too many candles and far too many flowers.” Opened as Mollie in 2001, the hotel is named after the owner’s mother, who ran it first as a guesthouse and then as a motel.