Ashley Butcher

Review of Hilton Queenstown Resort & Spa

While on a road-trip around the South Island, we s...

While on a road-trip around the South Island, we stumbled across this brand new property (at the time) run by Hilton known as Kawarau - we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the prices, and had to book a room for a night while we spent time in Queenstown.

We didn't really want to stay in town, since we preferred to avoid really touristy places, so staying on the edge of town appealed to us. When we arrived, we discovered that even if you wanted to stay in town, Kawarau would be a great place anyway as they have a regular taxi-boat service into town.

Being managed by Hilton meant that service was excellent from the time we arrived until the time we left. There was some confusion as to which amenities we were allowed to access or not given that it wasn't the main hotel, and based on our tariff, but we didn't mind.

We stayed in room 111 in building 2, which is situated on the front of the property facing the water. The room we had was tiny, and clearly geared up for the winter season rather than for summer, including a completely useless balcony, but the views were lovely (even from the bathroom), and the living room and bedroom spaces were nicely proportioned.

The rooms seem to be well soundproofed and have all the mod-cons, but unfortunately while we were there clearly everything was a little too new as the room was engulfed in a plastic or glue smell, and WiFi and TV reception was extremely poor. We certainly felt like we were the first to use the room though as absolutely nothing showed any signs of wear-and-tear, so this surely wouldn't be a concern for guests now.

If you're heading to Queenstown for a skiing holiday and you want the comfort, and the beauty, with town centre at arm's length, this place is probably for you.

Stayed January 2013.