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Hotels Overview

Lodgings in the Southern Alps and Fiordland take advantage of their fantastic surroundings and milk the views for all they're worth. You'll almost always be able to find a room with a view over a lake, river, or rugged mountain range. Queenstown and Wanaka get busy in both the summer (January through March) and winter (July through September), so you should reserve in advance in those peak seasons.

There are plenty of award-winning luxury options in Queenstown in particular, and costs are correspondingly high. Other towns, such as Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, have very limited options so you should plan ahead there, too. (Lodging options in Aoraki/Mount Cook Village tend to be on the expensive side, so you may want to look to nearby towns, like Twizel, for a place to stay.) Air-conditioning is an exception rather than the norm, since it rarely gets hot enough to warrant it.