Too many hotels a concern

Auckland’s Safari Group has applied for a resource consent for this 131-room, five-level hotel and apartment building in Queenstown. Image: supplied.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s hotel sector regional representative Brian Howie said the number of new hotels proposed for the resort during the past six months was a cause for concern.

Although room rates had risen, they were only back to 1990s levels after adjusting for inflation.

"Certainly, occupancy levels at the moment are healthy for us at 80%, but that number is flat compared to the same period last year.

"If you look throughout the course of the year, there’s no time in Queenstown where there’s no beds available, even in the peak season."

This week, Auckland-based Safari Group lodged a resource consent application for a 131-room, five-level hotel and apartment building on the corner of Frankton Rd and Stanley St.

Two hotels are now under construction in central Queenstown, while this week’s announcement brings to four the number of additional developments proposed for the CBD in the past six months alone.

Safari Group opened the resort’s first new hotel in five years, a 59-room Ramada in Frankton’s Remarkables Park, last winter. It is now building Wyndham Garden next door, consisting of 75 hotel and 55 residential apartments.

In central Queenstown, the five-star QT Queenstown on Brunswick St is expected to open late this year. Its 69 suites are replacing 92 outdated rooms in Rydges Lakeland Resort’s two rear blocks.

Work is also well-advanced on a 54-room boutique hotel in Henry St.

In March, Australia’s Pro-invest Group announced a $60million, 227-room hotel for the corner of Stanley, Sydney and Melbourne Sts. In June, American developer Kevin Carlin lodged a resource consent application for a $100 million, 120- to 130-room hotel near Skyline’s gondola.

The same month, Mountain Scene revealed  local developer Chris Meehan’s Lakes Edge Developments had lodged consent for a 260-room, four-star hotel at Kawarau Village, in Kelvin Heights.

Safari Group owner Rob Neil said Auckland architects Studio 37 went through about 14 designs to come up with one befitting the Frankton Rd-Stanley St site’s gateway location.It also had to satisfy the council’s urban design panel.

"I think it’s a spectacular design, I’m very proud of it."

Facilities include a ground-floor restaurant-cafe, two small conference rooms and a gym.To fulfil planning requirements, there will be two coach parks and 44 car parks, which will mostly be underground.

Mr Neil said about 55% of the units had been pre-sold, ranging from $280,319 for hotel rooms to $621,803 for two-bedroom apartments.Two top-floor residential penthouses would be offered for almost $3 million each.

He hoped consent would be granted by Christmas and construction would start next April or May, once his building crew had completed Wyndham Garden.

He expected it to open in mid-2019.

- Guy Williams, additional reporting by Philip Chandler