Situated on New Zealand’s South Island, Eichardt’s Private Hotel offers a tantalising luxury escape amid the unspoilt natural beauty and adrenaline haven of Queenstown
Words by MAUREEN JORDAN
If you’re yearning for an escape to a place akin to a European snow-capped wonderland with a touch of the old world of the United Kingdom, but without the long-haul flight and the Australian dollar that hikes every cost, the South Island of New Zealand (it’s official Maori name is Te Waipounamu) could prove to be the dream luxury experience for you.
Imagine sitting by the fire in an old English-style pub, drinking fine wine from a nearby winery, skiing off-piste in a pristine environment and enjoying sustainably produced food that blends the freshest of produce into recipes that draw inspiration from Europe, Asia and Polynesia.
The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa (often translated as ‘land of the long white cloud’) and both its north and south islands, with their mountain ranges and wild rivers have provided the perfect setting for many a movie, most notably The Lord of the Rings. The dramatic mountain ranges of the South Island and its wilderness areas are internationally recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. At the northern end of Lake Wakatipu is the village of Glenorchy, where much of the trilogy was set. Many a scene was filmed near Queenstown and nearby Arrowtown.
As you cosy up in front of the fire in a location overlooking the lake, asking yourself. How good is this? make sure you complement your liquid refreshment with arguably the sea’s greatest bivalve mollusc, called a Bluff oyster. According to tasteatlas.com, these delicacies rank number four in the world, with Sydney Rock Oysters at number one. Even a Sydney loyalist would be forced to admit that the Kiwi offering is better! This shouldn’t be all that surprising because, during my stay in Queenstown and its environs, I encountered a number of arguable world firsts.
Queenstown must be the most ‘OMG’ town in the Southern Hemisphere, with the town’s port nestled into Lake Wakatipu and watched over by the appropriately named Remarkables mountain range. When snow caps the peaks of the surrounding mountains, you could be excused for thinking you’re somewhere in Europe. And with the melting pot of people you find on the streets, in shops and bars. the experience is like being in a tourist mecca in France, Italy or Spain.
As a sports fanatic with a particular love of Rugby, I was always slightly jealous of the Kiwis having the famous All Blacks team with their spectacular win rate of 77 per cent, making it the most successful national team ever. Queenstown is another reason I envy our cousins across the ditch (this is how Kiwis say”‘ditch”, which they call the Pacific Ocean stretch between them and us).
Though other Brits sighted Lake Wakatipu and its breathtaking surrounds in the 1850s, Queenstown was founded by Welshman William Rees, who established a settlement to raise sheep. The luxury, world renowned private hotel Eichardt’s is on the site of his original woolshed and inherited its name in 1863, not long after Rees put down his roots in the area. Before that, the Maori inhabitants called the place Tahuna, which stands for ‘sandbank’.
Today, the town thrives with the trappings of an international tourist hotspot. During certain seasons, it’s a magnet for the thrill-seeker snow enthusiasts and adrenalin junkies who trek glaciers, take dives on a bungy line or speed across the lake on all manner of death-defying contraptions.
Settled in the middle of this natural beauty, only slightly impacted by urban humans, is Eichardt’s. If you’re looking for the relaxing life of gentle bayside strolls, long lunches in world rated wineries or sitting by the fire in Eichardt’s old English pub with its roaring fire in the winter, Queenstown and its historical ‘jewel in the crown’ has to be on your bucket list.
Today, the town thrives with the trappings of an international tourist hotspot. During certain seasons, it’s a magnet for the thrill-seeker snow enthusiasts and adrenalin junkies who trek glaciers, take dives on a bungy line or speed across the lake on all manner of death-defying contraptions.
Settled in the middle of this natural beauty, only slightly impacted by urban humans, is Eichardt’s. If you’re looking for the relaxing life of gentle bayside strolls, long lunches in world rated wineries or sitting by the fire in Eichardt’s old English pub with its roaring fire in the winter, Queenstown and its historical ‘jewel in the crown’ has to be on your bucket list.
While the hotel, now owned by former Melbourne Rebels owner Andrew Cox and his business partner wife, Sarah, (who also own the famous Elwood Bathers in Melbourne), it’s not all old world. The two Lake View Suites and the Penthouse are to die for (or you’d might consider knocking someone off so you can stay there!). Ensconced beneath the accommodation suites is a restaurant called The Grille, which Andrew said was based on that New York classic eatery Balthazar, located in the heart of SoHo, Manhattan. The Grille boasts the best of Kiwi fare and wines, and a stone’s throw from the hotel is the Botswana Butchery restaurant that good food guides insist serves the best in New Zealand meat.
If your sport of choice is shopping, Eichardt’s is surrounded by high-end stores you’d expect to find in a top tourist destination including R.M. Williams, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Chloe, Stella McCartney, Kenzo, Tom Ford, Givenchy, La Mer and Gucci beauty, with more to come.
Dr Samuel Johnson, author of the first-ever dictionary, once said of London: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Similarly, if anyone is tired of Queenstown, or indeed the entire South Island of New Zealand, they must have been spoiled in life beyond belief or they have gone long on the thrill-seeking, madly wild activities that adrenalin junkies live for.
And if the latter is the case, recharging at Eichardt’s, makes perfect sense.
If anyone is tired of Queenstown, or indeed the entire South Island of New Zealand, they must have been spoiled in life beyond belief.