An independent guide to retirement villages and rest homes in NZ

Village Guide is your independent, impartial guide to retirement villages and rest homes in New Zealand
Everything you need to know about living in a retirement village in New Zealand, you’ll find here. Browse our Resource Centre for helpful articles, guides, and checklists or search our Directories to find a village or care home near you.

New Zealand’s retirement village industry is huge, and it’s growing every year. There are currently over 31,500 retirement units in New Zealand, and 74 brand new villages are in the pipeline [source].

With so many villages to choose from, researching the options available can feel overwhelming. Where to even start?

That’s why Village Guide exists: to make finding, comparing, and understanding retirement villages as easy as possible.

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Village Guide was launched in early 2015 by Paula Bishop, an online marketing expert.

When Paula returned to New Zealand from Australia in 2014, she was struck by the lack of independent information available about retirement villages. She’s passionate about this topic as she understands how complicated the decision-making process can be, having had several close family members live in retirement villages and rest homes.

Paula quickly realised there was a need for an independent resource that could provide an overview of the options available and also some general information about retirement village living.

So, she created Village Guide, putting her online marketing skills and experience working with large-scale start-ups to use to fill this much-needed gap in the market.

Village Guide started as an Online Directory with listings for retirement villages and care homes throughout New Zealand.

The Directory was (and still is) incredibly popular, but it didn’t quite satisfy the need for the growing number of questions people have about retirement village living.

In 2019, Village Guide launched a comprehensive Resource Centre, which brings together all the information you need to make an informed decision about retirement villages.

All the content in the Resource Centre is written by professional content writers, with the help and input of relevant professionals (where required) such as lawyers, financial advisers, and retirement village experts.

Here’s some of the most popular Resource Centre content:

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Paula Bishop, Founder and Managing Director

Paula Bishop is an online marketing expert, brand strategist, and speaker. She worked for global brands in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, before founding Village Guide in 2015.

Today, Paula runs Village Guide with the support of a graphic designer, professional content writer, and SEO/web development experts. She also collaborates with other industry experts, such as lawyers, to ensure all Village Guide content is legally accurate.

As Founder and Managing Director, she dedicates time to speaking about retirement village living. She delivers presentations at retirement villages and community events and is available for speaking engagements.

Paula is also a passionate proponent of women in business and is always happy to speak about what she’s learned in building her own company.

If you would like to discuss Village Guide or speak to Paula about being a woman in business, please get in touch.

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You can request an Information Pack for multiple villages by adding them to your Saved List. When ready, complete the form within your account area.