Luxury Motorhome Hire New Zealand: Is It Worth It?

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Planning a campervan trip in New Zealand and wondering if a luxury motorhome is worth it?

We spent over two weeks travelling New Zealand’s South Island in a Wilderness Motorhomes NZ campervan with our kids, and it completely changed how we experienced the trip.

In this review, we’re sharing what it’s really like to hire a luxury motorhome in New Zealand — including what’s included, what to expect, and whether it’s worth the extra cost.

THE BEST LUXURY MOTORHOME HIRE NEW ZEALAND

When you are planning a New Zealand road trip, it’s easy to assume the cheapest option is the best, since you only need the van to sleep in… right? Well, not entirely! 

Sure, you will have a great time even if you are roughing it around New Zealand, but that type of holiday isn’t for everyone. It definitely wasn’t for us, travelling with young kids, in winter!

Why Choose a Luxury Campervan in New Zealand?

It’s easy to assume the cheapest campervan is the best option — after all, you’re only using it to sleep in… right?

But after travelling New Zealand in winter with kids, we quickly realised comfort makes a huge difference.

Having heating, indoor cooking facilities, and space to move around turned our trip from “just manageable” into something we genuinely enjoyed every day.

If you’re travelling as a family, in colder months, or just want a more relaxed experience, upgrading to a luxury motorhome is well worth considering.

We wanted a luxury motorhome hire New Zealand so we could truly enjoy our road trip experience.

This is why Wilderness Motorhomes NZ checked all the boxes for our New Zealand South Island winter campervan trip. 

Wilderness Motorhomes

Wilderness Motorhomes are a luxury motorhome hire New Zealand campervan company with a large fleet of vehicles to suit different budgets and family sizes. They have small motorhomes perfect for solo or couple trips, and they have larger vans that fit 4 or 5 people too. 

The best part about them is the fact they are fully self-contained campervans! This means you can sleep, cook, shower, poop (it happens), relax… all the things, inside your campervan.

Exactly what you need when doing a New Zealand campervan holiday as a family!

Picking Up Your Wilderness Campervan

The pick-up process with Wilderness is really easy, and they make you feel welcome from the moment you arrive. Or in our case, the moment their transfer service picks you up.

Wilderness Motorhomes have 2 pick up locations – their head office site in Auckland and a second location in Christchurch. This means you can pick up and drop off from either, including a one-way trip between the two locations.

Check out these incredible Auckland day trips & longer journeys, perfect for road trips around the North Island.

Since each of the motorhomes in the Wilderness fleet is certified self-contained, you can go completely off the grid and experience freedom camping around New Zealand. This is a fantastic way to keep your overall trip costs down since you don’t need to pay for camping sites each night!

Outback 4 Motorhome Review

We chose the Wilderness Motorhomes Outback 4 campervan for our trip, and it ended up being a great fit for our family of four.

The layout worked really well, with enough space for everyone to move around comfortably, plus a fixed bed setup that meant we didn’t have to convert sleeping areas every night.

This alone is what sets it apart from every other campervan experience we’ve had, including the budget Jucy Condo and the Star RV Polaris 6.

The separate shower and toilet were also a huge bonus — especially when travelling with kids.

Our Experience With The Outback 4 Motorhome

Overall, our experience with Wilderness Motorhomes was fantastic.

As first-time campervan travellers, there was a small learning curve at the beginning, but we quickly got used to how everything worked.

Driving the motorhome was easier than expected, thanks to automatic transmission and the reversing camera — which made manoeuvring much less stressful.

Inside the van, there was plenty of space for the four of us, and we never felt too cramped — even on days when the weather kept us indoors.

👉 It was one of those travel experiences that ended up being even better than we expected.

We didn’t use the oven. All our cooking was on the stovetop instead, and you can find our campervan cooking tips.

Our experience taking a campervan around New Zealand in an Outback 4 was fantastic!

Why a Luxury Campervan is Worth It in Winter

If you’re travelling New Zealand in winter, this is where a luxury campervan really stands out.

We saw plenty of people cooking outside in cold and wet conditions, while we were able to stay warm inside, cook comfortably, and relax at the end of the day.

The gas heating made a huge difference — especially overnight — and meant we stayed warm even on freezing nights.

Having an indoor toilet was another big advantage, particularly when travelling with kids.

👉 For winter travel, the added comfort is absolutely worth it.

In the warmer months, it would be easier to manage with a budget camper, in winter, it’s just too cold!

When you start a New Zealand campervan holiday, you usually have every intention of trying to avoid using the toilet as much as possible, but let’s be realistic – young kids are hard to train, so that toilet did get used plenty more than intended

When it’s zero degrees in the middle of the night, we are hardly going to drag a half-asleep child to the nearest public toilet. 

What’s Included With Wilderness Motorhomes

One of the biggest advantages of choosing a luxury campervan is how much is included.

With Wilderness Motorhomes, most of the essentials are already provided, which makes planning your trip much easier.

The Optional Extras

Optional Extras

Wilderness also offers a range of optional extras you can add to your booking, depending on your needs.

We opted for unlimited WiFi, which was really useful for planning our route and staying connected during the trip. This also meant we could watch Netflix on the iPad at night too.

We also had camp chairs and table, and the VIP zero excess package just because you don’t know what may happen. We ended up with a crack in the windscreen during our trip so it was great not having to pay extra.

👉 While not essential, some extras can make your trip even more convenient.

RELATED READING  – ESSENTIAL NZ CAMPING APPS

Freedom Camping With Wilderness Motorhomes

We were impressed at how long we were able to stay off the grid with our Outback 4.

It was almost a week into our trip before we powered up our van and it was only due to staying at a particular location where there was not really any freedom camping around that we did so. Not because we were out of power! 

They recommend plugging in every 4 or so days, but you easily get much longer! Plus the vehicle charges while you drive so you do top it up slightly each time you are on the move.

Our water and gas lasted several days also. We were careful with our water use, although using the campervan shower used it up quickly. We tried to use holiday park showers as much as possible. 

The gas bottle lasted a few days each bottle, mostly because being winter we used it a lot more with overnight heating. 

The toilet needed changing every few days because of the fact the kids suddenly seemed to need to pee 3 times each overnight. Or so it felt! More than a few days it would start to smell.

Thankfully dump stations are everywhere in New Zealand and you can use the Campermate App to find them.

What Makes Wilderness Motorhomes Luxury Motorhomes?

All Wilderness Motorhome vehicles are less than 3 years old, which means you get all the modern features of a newer campervan.

They include all the living and cooking facilities you need for a long term campervan holiday. And you get all the basic inclusions with your luxury RV booking price – the add ons are a nice perk but not essential!

They have plenty of space for travelling as a family or with friends. Each of the Wilderness vans has a living area for meals so you can stay warm during the cold or wet weather. No need to do everything outside of your campervan.

The attention to detail and luxurious European design make you feel at ease throughout your campervan holiday. Even if it is your first time like it was for us!

Is Luxury Motorhome Hire Worth It in New Zealand?

If you’re travelling with kids, in winter, or simply want a more comfortable experience — we would absolutely say yes.

While it does cost more than budget options, the added comfort, flexibility, and convenience can make a huge difference to your overall trip.

👉 For us, it turned our campervan holiday into one of our favourite travel experiences.

Our Wilderness Motorhomes Review

We had an amazing time on our holiday and believe Wilderness Motorhomes to be one of the best campervan rental New Zealand companies by far! You get the comfort of home, and fit into the smaller space of the van.

Plus the attention to detail in the Wilderness vans is pretty incredible!

The adjustment to driving the 7.4M van came relatively easily. We were able to navigate some pretty crazy mountain roads without issue, even during winter. 

If you are planning a New Zealand road trip holiday soon, definitely consider Wilderness Motorhomes, as they are by far one of the best premium motorhome hire options in New Zealand. Without costing a fortune!

They are far from being the cheapest and the cost of travel in New Zealand can be high. However, saving on holiday parks and public facilities helps to balance those costs and travelling by campervan is often more cost-effective than hiring a car and staying at hotels throughout your trip!

Not sure a luxury motorhome experience is for you? Check out our review of budget campervan company Jucy!

Travel Insurance: Make sure you don’t leave home without travel insurance. Trust us, it’s one of those things you don’t want to skip, especially when travelling with kids. Check out SafetyWing to make sure you’re covered!

This is your chance to get right up close with the New Zealand wilderness and feel like you are in the most remote parts of the world for a while.