Eichardt‘s Private Hotel is located on the corner of Marine Parade and Ballarat Street, Queenstown,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, on the shores of

Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu () is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland, New Zealand, Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori l ...

. Eichardt’s is a significant local landmark, and is listed as a Category Two historic place by the

Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buil ...

History

William Gilbert Rees, one of the first Europeans to settle the Queenstown area, arrived at the shores of Lake Wakatipu in 1859, seeking pastoral land. Rees built a large hotel down on present day Frankton Road, a homestead on the lakefront and erected a woolshed on the site now occupied by Eichardt's Private Hotel. When gold was discovered in the nearby

Shotover River The Shotover River () is located in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. The name correctly suggests that this long river is fast flowing, with numerous rapids. The river flows generally south from the Southern Alps on its jour ...

in 1862, Rees found his high country station at the centre of a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

- his homestead was declared an official goldfield and the main business area of Queenstown developed around his station. An entrepreneurial Rees quickly turned to the hotel keeping business, his woolshed was given a wooden facade and turned into a hotel named the Queen's Arms. In early 1866, Rees entered into partnership with Albert Eichardt, who went on to become the sole proprietor of the hotel by 1869. Eichardt renamed the hotel Eichardt's Queen's Arms Hotel, it was renamed Eichardt's Hotel during his time. The Eichardt's building was significantly affected by the Queenstown floods in November 1999. Following the floods, the owners undertook alterations and renovations to restore the building and reinvent Eichardt's as a luxury boutique hotel. Eichardt's reopened as Eichardt's Private Hotel in December 2001. A member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the property is owned by Andrew and Sarah Cox of Melbourne. The property is also a member of the exclusive Virtuoso network and has been recommended by Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report since 2002.

References

{{Queenstown-Lakes Hotels in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Queenstown, New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in Otago Otago gold rush

History

See also

References