NZ’s most expensive hotel

A new low-rise development joined to a historic hotel is changing Queenstown’s lakefront and its operator predicts it will command New Zealand’s most expensive new hotel room rate at $10,000 a night.

Alongside Eichardt’s Private Hotel directly across the road from Lake Wakatipu on Marine Pde, construction of the $6 million block is well advanced. Skyline Enterprises, which owns and operates many ventures including Queenstown’s gondola, is the developer and owner of the new building.

Little is visible of that 781sq m one-storey block, still under its protective wrap during mid-winter conditions.

Andrew Cox, the Melbourne-based Kiwi owner of Eichardt, said more room was needed so he had leased space in the new building, investing about $3 million.

A new bistro will open on the ground floor, two new suites and a $10,000/night penthouse, Cox said.

“One of the most highly-valued pieces of real estate on Queenstown’s waterfront will be home to the country’s most expensive hotel suite, commanding up to $10,000 per night for sweeping views of Lake Wakatipu and surrounding peaks,” an announcement last April said.

Retailers Louis Vuitton and World have also leased space.

Jeff Staniland, Skyline chief executive, said last April that the new building’s location and the opportunity it offered was unusual.

“Queenstown is known for its forward-thinking and considered hospitality and we have been careful to reflect the history of Eichardt’s in our modern design. It is exciting that this world-class hotel is a key part of our development,” Staniland said.

The building was designed by Queenstown architect Michael Wyatt. Its Marine Pde facade is clad in Oamaru stone while its Church St facade will have a more weathered, exposed steel cladding.

Source – The New Zealand herald