A NZ$16 million retirement complex has raised eyebrows in the regional centre of Masterton, New Zealand.

The Lansdowne Park Lifestyle Village comes equipped with a mini-hospital, spa, gym, pool tables, library and cinema.

"I hear people say it's too flash for Masterton’” said village director Trevor Marshall, “and I ask, how's that?

"If you've worked hard all your life, why can't you have this?"

It’s an argument that also stands up in Australia.

Research by McCrindle Baynes for villages.com.au found that two thirds of Australians who move into a retirement village do so because of the importance they place on the facilities a village has to offer.

A vast majority of residents believe that features like swimming pools and community halls are extremely important.

As Mr Marshall’s partner Suzanne added, there was a simple reason for spending so much on the complex: "If I can't live in it why would I expect anyone else to live there?"