Upscale Loding on South Island NZ
 

We are considering a trip to New Zealand - South Island for 2008. We love the idea of all the beauty and outdoor adventure...but (and I hope this doesn't sound snobby) but we also like nice accomodations. A bit of pampering is also an important part of our vacations. Five star not required, but would really like 3 or 4 star places for the bulk of our trip.

In my initial research, it seems that there are alot of what is described as basic accommodations.

Would love some advise as to what are the more upscale lodging options available - particularly outside of the CH or Queenstown areas.

Please don't critisize me for asking this, we work very hard (as we all do) all year round and enjoy living above our means for the few short weeks of our vacation every year.

THANKS!

Fear not, no criticism here - upscale accommodation is certainly available in NZ.

Suggest you take a look at this site:

http://www.friars.co.nz/

have a look at blanket bay -although my family were quite happy with the Oaks Shores in Queenstown

It would be helpful to know what places and price range you are considering, so we could give specific recommendations. ((*))

Jed - That's a great question! Right now, we are wide open as far as where we want to go - our final decisions will likely be made on a variety of decisions, including the lodging available in specific locations.

We are anticipating a 14-day trip - staying at least two days in each location. I will need a couple days between drives. We love to hike, so I am sure that we will be staying in some locations that there is ample hiking. From everything I have read, some of places I THINK we will want to go include: Fiordland, the West Coast, Mt. Cook, Te Anau. I am also guessing, we will stay a couple days in Queenstown and Christchurch.

I am trusting the folks on this chat board to help me with our decision, by letting me know their favorites in the "upscale" category based on their experiences.

Price range...I think we want to average between $400 and $500 US per night. Having said that, if we find some great places for less, we may be able to splurge on some more expensive places (so we are not ruling out a place because it is over $500). Does that make sense.

Obviously, I need help.

For absolute top of the line accommodation in Te Anau try Dock bay Lodge.
http://dockbaylodge.co.nz/db/
Specializes in Golfers, but anyone can stay, and you don't need to play golf.
No idea of price, but within your budget you souild get6 something fairly nice.

I think you can get a lot for $500. We were in NZ for 18 nights, and averaged about $150/nt as a guess. And we stayed in 3-4* places. When I was looking, there were many <i>more expensive</i> places.

The most expensive was Wilderness Lodge Lake Moereki, at about $250/nt. I heartily recommend it. For hiking, take a look at Wildreness Lodge Arthurs Pass. http://www.wildernesslodge.co.nz/
((*))

I was there recently and stayed in Queenstown at The Spire Hotel - a small, trendy, 10 room boutique hotel. It was perfect. Wonderful people, great service. I have more info at http://www.bombasticlife.com/psp-new...town-the-spire

I think you would really enjoy it. Good luck and have a have a great trip.

Try www.qualmark.co.nz this is the nz star rating system. You can search under for the type of property and the minimum star requirement. I think you may be over-estimating the cost of accommodation in NZ though. The 'exclusive' properties may several hundred a night, but the 4-5 star motels are usually less than NZ$300 a night (often much less).

For upscale accomodations, I highly recommend the Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki on the west coast, between Haast and Fox Glacier. It is especially good for nature lovers who also want to be pampered with gourmet dinners and great breakfasts included in your room price, plus free use of kayaks. Rooms are what I would call &quot;wilderness luxury&quot;, meaning they are understated in decor but very comfortable. Expensive. It is listed in the fodors guidebook and you can also see more reviews on tripadvisor.com. (For some reason tripadvisor lists this lodge under Hokitika, even though it is NOT in Hokitika, it is instead between Haast and Fox Glacier.)

We also stayed in a very nice apartment (5-star) right outside of Queenstown. It is a 20-minute brisk walk from the apartment into Queenstown town centre, or you can drive and find parking in town... It's called Villa del Lago, Queenstown. We spent 3 nights there and you get a kitchen and small washer and small dryer in your apartment. We liked the 1-bedroom lake-front apartment. Found this one in one of my guidebooks...It's in the DK Eyewitness guidebook.

If you are in Dunedin, the chapel room of The Brothers Boutique Hotel is very nice, with stained glass windows.

Thanks to all for the input...it's been invaluable.

Short list pretty much contains each of your suggestions! I am particularly intrigued by the Villa del Lago apartments...found their website. Love having a washer/drier to use while away - sure helps with the packing!

I will keep you posted on my progress (if you care!) - would like to go in March 2008.

LBLB555 -

We've also stayed at Villa Del Lago twice now, and it's our favorite QT lodging to date. It's self-catering, so doesn't fit into the &quot;pampering&quot; category, but it's a good choice for comfort and quiet (which we've had trouble finding in QT). Reminded me of a small condo.

We've stayed at very few places in NZ that don't offer laundry facilities of some sort, although it's definitely convenient to have a washer and dryer right in your unit.

LBLB555: Sure we care, that's why we are here...we are obsessed with New Zealand! Do keep us posted. If you are booking with Villa Del Lago, which we loved, keep in mind that the apartments that are closest to the lake are also furthest from the road and quieter. That means going down a few stairs after you park, but I preferred that over having an apartment on the road. Also, I don't know about you, but at home I have a huge dryer, which is specially designed NOT to wrinkle clothes even if you leave them overnight. Surprise, when you use a small dryer, like the one at Villa del lago in the apartment, you do need to take the clothes out right away or they will get wrinkled. But you can't beat the convenience of having the washer and dryer right in your apartment, even if they are smaller than you are used to at home! Villa del Lago even has an ironing board and iron...but I never iron, especially NOT on vacation! :-P

Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki has free use of 2 large washers and 2 large dryers, but they aren't in your room, they are on the property. Since there are only 2 of each they are popular...but sooner or later you will find a chance to do your laundry if necessary.

Ran across some posh accommodation today while doing research for our upcoming SI trip. If you're looking for serious pampering, suggest you take a look at these:

www.blanketbay.com/

www.grasmere.co.nz/

http://www.kapitea.co.nz/

Excellent feedback! I may need to start another post for this, but I will start here.

Does anyone know of a great travel agency to help with New Zealand travel. I simply don't have time to do this. Here's what I am thinking. Give the travel agent a list of the 3-4 areas we want, list of some of the properties I like to give them an idea of our interests and have them book things. I also need an agent willing to work with United to book my trip with the best combination of miles and $$ - I just can't deal with this. It is well worth paying someone to help with this.

Kindest Regards!

I can point you in the right direction. Send me an email to [email protected]

I would recommend the Sofitel in Queenstown. Very new and penthouse has two apts. that are amazing. Great location and might have just added a spa too.

If you find yourself staying on the West Coast in Fox Glacier, I can absolutely recommend the Te Waheke Inn. We had a fabulously comfortable room, a wonderful breakfast and the owner/manager was terrific. Invited us up to the lounge area after we settled in for a drink by the fire. Recommended a great little restaurant with fabulous food, and also gave us some advice for the remainder of our travels. It was definitely more upscale than we usually stay in, but we decided to splurge for one night. Amazingly, with the exchange rate the splurge didn't cost us as much as I would have thought - about USD$125. But a place that I would definitely chatagorize as 4 star (and that's what Orbitz has them rated as).

Oops - spelled it wrong. It's Te Weheka.