Noise worry if bar hours extended

The general manager of a luxury boutique hotel in central Queenstown says it is  "not financially viable" for the company to upgrade its windows to provide better acoustic insulation.

A hearing resumed in Queenstown before Judge Bill Unwin yesterday for MBT Holdings Ltd’s application for a new on-licence for Vinyl Underground.

As part of the application, MBT Holdings director Mike Burgess also sought for the basement bar’s trading hours to be extended by an hour, to 4am.

The application was opposed by Imperium Group, the owner of The Spire and Eichardt’s, because of  concerns over potential adverse effects, particularly increased noise near The Spire, which has capacity for 20 guests and charges $700-$1200 a night.

MBT took over Vinyl in September. Before the change in ownership, The Spire had lodged 33 noise complaints with the council. Since the takeover, no noise complaints had been lodged.

There had been minor issues, including two times where patrons used a fire exit door which opened on to Church Lane and made noise there.

Mr Burgess said yesterday the company had decided to install a mechanism on that door, which meant it would open only if the fire alarm sounded. It would take about five weeks to be installed. Until then, a security guard would man the door.

The previous owners had installed acoustic doors and MBT had introduced the "lollipop initiative" where patrons were given lollipops when they left to try to stop them talking.

A security guard patrolling  Church Lane believed most of the noise was from people using the lane as a thoroughfare. It links Novotel Queenstown Lakeside hotel and the CBD.

In response to Judge Unwin yesterday, Imperium Group general manager James Cavanagh The Spire was last assessed by an acoustic expert in October.

It was suggested the company could re-glaze its Church Lane frontage with a "new solution", but at $100,000 to $140,000 it was cost prohibitive.

Judge Unwin suggested the money the company was spending on its objections to licence renewals "may be better spent doing what your acoustic engineer says".

Eichardt’s had withdrawn its objection to MBT’s application, but The Spire remained concerned about potential effects on clientele of later trading hours.Mr Cavanagh said people would congregate on Church St and it was "highly likely" patrons from would migrate to Vinyl, which has capacity for 190.

Because of the "drink-up period", patrons potentially would not leave until 4.30am.

"Guests expect a luxury experience and do not take lightly to being woken up in the early hours," Mr Cavanagh said.

He said reviews on TripAdvisor had a "huge" effect on future bookings and said many referred to the noise in the area.

MBT counsel Russell Mawhinney said guests might be being unreasonable in their expectations, given the hotel was in central Queenstown and established after the bars around it.

Mr Mawhinney said of 154 TripAdvisor reviews for The Spire, one was "terrible", made in February 2015, before MBT took over, and one was "poor". That review, made in March, did not refer to noise.

The committee reserved its decision.

 

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