Need advice for Queenstown trip
 

Traveling to Queenstown early-mid October and are looking for a hotel/motel within easy walking distance of downtown for sightseeing, dining. We were there 20 yr ago. Would like a room under $150US. Any chance of lakeview? We have 3 nights & 2 1/2 days (Arrowtown, Earnslaw, gondola, maybe garden or wine tour). Hubby worried about rough boat ride with bad back or we'd do that. Do we need a car? The bus to Arrowtown seems to be infrequent. Any suggestions on hotels, sights, dining, transportation (are there better airfares than Air NZ on-line Auckland to Queenstown to Wellington)? All the flights QtoW seem to go through Christchurch?

Have you checked out the Qantas Red e-deals? They are usually the cheapest way to fly.

There are good deals on Wotif.com, and you should be able to get a good room for less than US$150, either through them or emailing directly. ((*))

do a search on queenstown on this forum and you'll find a lot of posts. recently there was a post called 'queenstown hotel help' which had quite a bit of information. If I was going, I'd probably hire a car, that way you can go wherever whenever. don't miss winedeli.com shop in queenstown itself it you are into wine. it's great. gondola is very good (luge great fun at the top) and the shotover jet is a good low level adrenalin hit. you could do arrowtown and wineries on your own in a day (even half day). if you have time, I'd also be tempted to drive to wanaka - nice drive and wanaka very pretty.

Thanks, Jed. The Quantas red deals have Christchurch layovers of 4-7 hours which is too long for us. We'll keep checking them though.

Weatherwise, that is a cool period not in that much demand, but might unhappily coincide with school holidays. If not, hotel with view should be easy at that price for one of those on an adjacent hill. Walkable, although the few downtown hotels will save a climb. There is a nice NZ hotel reserving site or two that gives good rates on non-chain motels if you poke around local NZ tourist sites.

There is some yellow bus network for tourists which includes Arrowtown and a lot more I believe... you can't miss seeing them around town; very inexpensive way to avoid car hassles.

Eatiing and activities are very expensive, as is the near monopoly little turboprop flight in from Christchurch. Sure you want to avoid CHC? If you have a multi hour layover there, thank your luck and hope you can extend it to days. There is a museum walking distance from the airport I think, and overall it is a wonderful, down to earth place. Not as cute as the guidebooks claim, but with easy bus transportation and many nice excursions.

Thanks so much Viking. For us it's not avoiding Chc (which we love and highly recommend for short and multi-day stays) but trying to maximize our time elsewhere this trip. Is the hotel site you reference the Wotif site or something else? We are kind of reluctant to wait for the 21-day window to use Wotif since we are in Q just ahead of their Jazz Festival.

Try www.aaguides.co.nz, and www.jasons.com.

You might also like to look at www.qualmark.co.nz. This is the NZ quality assurance organisation for accommodation, tours, etc; anything related to tourism.

Anything on 'The Esplanade' is a flat and easy walk into town. Most of Qtn is very steep, and there is not a lot of accommodation on the few flat bits.

For $150 US you will have a wide choice. Try 'Outrigger at the Beacon', or "The Waterfront Apartments".

October is off peak, and the skiing should be finished, so you will probably have a wide choice.

You can also get good rates with the Entertainment book 50% discount at many NZ hotels. A friend of mine in Auckland bought one for us when we visited but I must admit nobody ever asked me for the ID card that goes with it.