Dining

Dining and Catering

Glenda and Chris have sourced passionate dining specialists for the hotel’s kitchen who share their love of everything local (particularly the abundant hotel garden). Guests can experience impeccable service standards in a modern yet relaxed setting in the restaurant, club lounge and hotel bar.

D’Arcy’s Garden Restaurant, Club Lounge & Bar

The hotel’s central dining, lounge and bar takes its name from Glenda’s Uncle D’Arcy, whose lifelong passion for growing plants organically with his own compost is well known in the Cambridge district. D’Arcy didn’t sell any of the flowers, fruits and vegetables he produced in his gardens, preferring to give it away to friends and neighbours. He liked to know exactly where his food was coming from and we plan to carry on this tradition by sourcing produce from D’Arcy’s garden, adding to his compost and filling any gaps with other local suppliers in the region, including the Waikato Farmers Market.

Look out for Waikato cheeses, Waipa wines, Monavale blueberries and seasonal farm produce on the hotel’s dining and catering menus.

The scenic lounge is the heart of the hotel. It offers all day comfort and is the perfect place for some alone time, group cocktails at the bar, or conversation around the fireplace, another tribute to D’Arcy who at one time was employed by the Invercargill Railway Station to keep the waiting room fire stoked. D’Arcy loved providing this comfort in the cold climate, a gesture we intend to honour.

  • 2nd floor with lake, forest and village views
  • Breakfast in the lounge daily
  • All day light meals and espresso
  • Evening cocktails and bar
  • Full service dining at night

About Uncle D’Arcy

Gardening has always been a hobby of D’Arcy’s. He kept a magnificent garden at his homes on Hamilton Road, Taylor Street and Dick Street in Cambridge. Having once purchased a run down garden shop in Taupo, he built the business and provided employment for a large number of local staff. From the day he left school D’Arcy has been interested in growing plants – flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, basically anything that grows and he has always done this organically with his own compost. Born in Te Kuiti, D’Arcy worked on a farm milking cows before moving to Cambridge to work at the Cambridge Railway Station – the actual site that Hidden Lake Hotel now occupies. He also worked at Invercargill Railway Station where he was in charge of the waiting room fire, a task he loved as the fire kept travellers warm in the cold climate. (The fireplace in D’Arcy’s Lounge Bar is a tribute to this memory.)

Hotel Catering

  • Conference room
  • Club lounge and bar
  • Picnics and tours

Lakewood Dining

  • Village dining with charge-back facility

Opening Hours

Breakfast

  • Monday – Friday 6:30am – 10:00am
  • Saturday & Sunday 7:00am – 10:30am

Dinner

  • 6:00pm – Late
  • Licensed hours are from 9am to 2am the following day