A week previously, I was emailed a form by the hotel enquiring as to my preferences – favourite wine, cocktail, music. One question really stood out: who would accompany me? Spouse? Children?… Bodyguard? I started to get an idea of the level of clientele we were dealing with here.
I was greeted in my suite by a bottle of my favourite wine, and a platter of afternoon treats tailored to my palate. The building is stepped into the craggy, sheer land on the edge of town, each retracted floor providing plenty of personal outdoor space, and privacy from the suite beneath. The Oro Restaurant – on the first floor, but still raised enough above the city to provide spectacular sunsets with your freshly shucked oysters or Wagyu sirloin – provides a quiet and informal elegance, its chef having trained under Gordon Ramsay, and it’s head barman imported from the ever-popular Sketch in London’s West End.
A tour of the penthouse revealed downstairs accommodation for a VIP’s staff, a full kitchen for a personal chef, and a discrete back entrance to avoid unwanted attention. And there, again, was that view, now silhouetted by a sunset.
And here is the new Queenstown in microcosm – elegant, exacting, discreet. Still framed by the spectacular lakes, oil-painting mountain ranges, excitable backpackers, hang gliders drifting in the air, and jet boats leaving white trails in the deep blue – but now with a touch of discernment to match the remarkable surroundings.
Essentials
Matt Charlton was a guest of The Carlin (00 64 3 222 7546; thecarlinhotel.com), which has rooms from £1,083 per night.
Have you visited Queenstown recently? How do you think the city has changed over the years? Please join the conversation in the comments section below
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/oceania/new-zealand/queenstown-new-zealand-backpacker-hotspot-midlife-favourite/
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Publish date : 2023-07-20 03:00:00
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