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LUXURY HOTEL INSIDER

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The Luxury Hotel Insider: Exclusive luxury hotel deals, features and special rates from the luxury hotel experts at Five Star Alliance.
Named one of Tripbase's Best Luxury Travel Blogs for 2011, below are Five Star Alliance's newest articles featuring exclusive information on luxury hotels worldwide including special offers and deals at the world's best hotels.

| By: Rachael Weir

Showcasing New Zealand colonial architecture, the Chalet Suites at Blanket Bay provide a luxe setting. Complimenting the Main Lodge, the suites incorporate schist stone and old steamer wharf timber beams. Offering air conditioning and super king-size beds, the suites also have complimentary WiFi internet connection and international direct dial phones. Continue reading below the Chalet Suite Entrance photo. 

Chalet Suite Entrance at Blanket Bay

Blanket Bay offers four Chalet Suites. Within each of the 700-square-foot suites is a private courtyard, spacious bedroom, walk-in closets, and bathroom with separate steam shower and soaking tub. Plus, a living room with a stone fireplace, satellite and apple TV, Bluetooth soundbar, and exclusive views of the surrounding scenery. Read more below the photo. 

Chalet Suite at Blanket Bay

Surrounded by Alpine scenery, Blanket Bay is an elegant, yet rustic lodge on the shore's of New Zealand's Lake Wakatipu. Celebrating the art of pure relaxation, the property offers a spa, fine dining in the dining room or intimate Wine Cave for private meals, and a location along the Wine & Arts Trail. There's fly-fishing and heli-skiing nearby, as well as hiking, boating, golfing, and kayaking, or flight-seeing over the World Heritage Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound. Learn about an exclusive Five Star Alliance Perk below the photo.

Jacuzzi View at Blanket Bay

FIVE STAR ALLIANCE PERK: Reservations booked under the "5 Star Signature Package" rate will also receive lunch for two per stay.

Check availability at Blanket Bay


| By: Rachael Weir

If you're seeking a lakeside retreat away from the hustle and bustle of city life, yet yearn for contemporary design and modern comforts, the Azur Lodge in Queenstown, New Zealand is an ideal spot. Perched on a hilltop amongst native trees, with panoramic views of Lake Wakatipu and the mountains, the property offers nine villas and a lodge with three fireplaces, cocktails, and refreshments.

Villa at Azur Lodge

Designed by local architect John Blair, the contemporary villas feature interior design by Singapore based LTW, providing an overall modern, yet relaxed feel. Offering complete privacy, all villas have private patios with scenic views, and gas fireplaces. There are plush beds with German-milled Egyptian cotton sheets by Ploh, as well as goose down pillows and duvets. Sleek bathrooms feature spa tubs with large windows to soak in the scenery, New Zealand-made Linden Leaves amenities, and rain forest showers.

Spa Tub with a View at Azur Lodge

To top off the outstanding views, Azur Lodge offers a variety of activities. Some of our favorite experiences include:

- Morning yoga on your own private patio (mats are supplied by the hotel)
- In-villa massage treatments
- Horseback riding through The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit filming locations
- Flightseeing to Milford Sound and landing on a glacier

Learn more about Azur Lodge >>

Horseback Riding at Azur Lodge

 

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| By: Five Star Alliance

Nestled amidst rugged snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps on the shores of Lake Wakatipu is New Zealand’s finest Lodge – Blanket Bay. In 1861, a mob of sheep owned by Mr William Gilbert Rees were sheared on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, in a bay just south of where the small town of Glenorchy is situated.  This bay was to be named Blanket Bay after blankets used to create the shed and shelters used to protect the eight Maori shearers and the wool from the elements.

Book astay at Blanket Bay>>


| By: Five Star Alliance

Each identical villa at Azur Lodge  is 79 square meters of open plan living in the midst of New Zealand’s natural environment.
Soak up the spectacular unobstructed views from the bathtub, which has been set into a bay window to give you a feeling of
being outdoors.

Azur Lodge

Book a stay at Azur Lodge >>


| By: Five Star Alliance

Blanket Bay
Blanket Bay Lodge sits at the north end of Lake Wakatipu amidst New Zealand's finest scenery. The luxury resort is known for its commitment to active vacations. Nearby activities include fly-fishing, heli-skiing, hiking on the Routeburn or Milford Tracks, jetboating, golfing kayaking, 4WD tours, horse riding, and flight-seeing over Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound. 

For those guests whose interest's lie in the area of wine and art, the resort has the perfect activity. The Wine & Arts Trail takes you to the homes and galleries of New Zealand's pre-eminent artists coupled with sampling Otago's finest wines at the local vineyards. 

Guests spend the day visiting Kiwit artists in their home studios. Then, they can quaff some "New World" wines that the Southern Lakes region is known for. The hotel can arrange for a chaffeur-driven car, so that guests can imbibe freely.

Book your stay at Blanket Bay >>


| By: Five Star Alliance

Eichardts Private Hotel  

Eichardts Private Hotel was born as a result of the rich vein of gold, which drew many prospectors, opportunists and downright optimists from around the globe to the shores of Lake Wakatipu. The quest for pastoral land brought William Gilbert Rees to the shores of Lake Wakatipu in 1859 when he built a homestead on the lakefront and erected a woolshed on the site now occupied by Eichardt's Hotel. When gold was discovered in the nearby Shotover River, Rees found himself at the centre of a gold rush - his homestead declared an official goldfield and the main business area developed around the station. The entrepreneurial Rees quickly turned to the hotel keeping business, the woolshed was given a wooden facade and turned into a hotel and 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, but during his time there, it came to be known simply as Eichardt's Hotel where he catered mostly for tourists as the tenor of the town evolved from a mining settlement to something more permanent.

View rates, details, and more images of Eichardts Private Hotel >>

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| By: Five Star Alliance

Whare Kea Lodge and Chalet's name translates to house of the kea in Maori. The Kea is the world's only alpine parrot which lives all year round above the snow line in the surrounding mountains. Whare Kea Lodge and Chalet supports the Kea Conservation Trust which assists with the conservation of the wild Kea in their natural habitat.

Whare Kea Lodge and Chalet 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View rates, details, and more images of Whare Kea Lodge and Chalet >>

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Posted in: Queenstown

| By: Five Star Alliance

Matakauri Lodge offers eleven luxurious suites and villas, each with private terraces looking out to Lake Wakatipu with mountain views.

Matakauri Lodge

View rates, details, and more images of Matakauri Lodge >>

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| By: Five Star Alliance

 

Matakauri Lodge offers eleven luxurious suites and villas, each with private terraces looking out to a dramatic Queenstown lakeside, with mountain views.  

 

 

View rates, details, and more photos of Matakauri Lodge >>

 

 

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| By: Five Star Alliance

Blanket Bay is nestled amidst rugged snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

 

Posted in: Queenstown, Hot Spots

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