All rooms can either be hired by the hour or by the day. We’ve included our hourly rates in the room descriptions below but get in touch if you’re interested in hiring a space for a whole day.
We also offer significant discounts to startup businesswomen.
Please note that prices do not include GST.
Room hire at the HWC includes use of the staff kitchen and access to tea and coffee making facilities. We can provide tea and coffee, but we ask hirers to bring their own milk.
If you have any questions about our rooms, or you’re unsure which room would best suit
your needs, get in touch.
Great for: art and craft groups, card and board games, business meetings, and community workshops.
The Kate Sheppard room can be opened into the adjoining Pania Room to make one large space.
Katherine Wilson “Kate” Sheppard (10 March 1847-13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of New Zealand’s Women’s Suffrage. Nowadays, her portrait can be found gracing New Zealand’s ten-dollar note. Since New Zealand was the first country to introduce universal suffrage in 1893, Sheppard’s work has had a considerable impact on women’s suffrage movements across the globe.
Great for: physical and mental wellbeing activities like singing, yoga, and sit dancing, as well as business meetings and community workshops.
The Pania Room can be opened into the adjoining Kate Sheppard Room to make one large space.
According to local Māori legend, Pania (also known as ‘Pania of the Reef’) was a beautiful half-human, half-sea creature who fell in love with a human. When her love deceived her, Pania returned to the ocean heartbroken. Legend has it the spirit of Pania lingers under the waves off Napier’s coast, and she is widely known as the kaitiaki of the reef. Erected in 1954 on Napier’s Marine Parade, the statue ‘Pania of the Reef’ is a major local tourist attraction and one of Napier’s best-known symbols.
Great for: small meetings, group mediation, craft clubs, writing groups, and counselling and supervision sessions.
The Ruth Lovell-Smith Room opens out onto the garden area, making it a tranquil setting ideal for support groups.
Ruth Lovell-Smith (1884-1963) was at the forefront of many women’s issues in Hastings and was involved with nearly every club or society in the town. As an active member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement in the 1890s, she was involved in positive lobbying and advocating to support the construction of the Hastings Women’s Rest. Due to the dedication, tenacity, and foresight of Ruth Lovell-Smith and other local women, the Hastings Women’s Rest in which we are situated was opened in 1921.
Great for: counselling, small meetings, supervision sessions and rentable office space.
In the early 1900s, Mrs Hannah Garnett sold the land beneath the Centre to Hastings Council on the condition that they built the Hastings Mother’s Rest on it. It was estimated that the building would cost £2000 to construct, and Mrs Garnett donated £750 from the land sale to guarantee its construction. Thanks in large part to Mrs Garnett’s generosity, the Hastings Women’s Rest was opened in 1921, making it the first purpose-built centre in Australasia to address the needs of women.
Great for: one-on-one or small group therapy, therapeutic massages and treatments.
The Anne-Marie O’Sullivan Room is a private and comfortable therapy space that includes a massage table.
Great for: baby or toddler playgroups, mother’s coffee groups, and lactation support services.
The nursery is filled with toys, books, puzzles, blocks and activities to keep little ones entertained, making it a child-friendly space for mothers to meet and support one another.
Great for: one-on-one counselling, supervision sessions, interviews and business meetings.
The Camelia Room is a private and comfortable space situated in the counselling area of the
Heretaunga Women’s Centre.
Great for: one-on-one counselling, supervision sessions, interviews and business meetings.
The Magnolia Room is a private and comfortable space situated in the counselling area of
the Heretaunga Women’s Centre.
Great for: one-on-one counselling, supervision sessions, interviews and business meetings.
The Rose Room is a private and comfortable space situated in the counselling area of the Heretaunga Women’s Centre.
