Queenstown’s Remarkables Park has revealed the next new hotel for its growing master planned development will be branded as a Wyndham.
Work on the multi-million dollar hotel, another addition to the Wyndham portfolio in New Zealand, is expected to start in March 2017 with opening scheduled for early to mid-2018.
The property is Queenstown’s second new hotel in five years and will be located on Market Street to the south of the new Ramada Hotel and Suites Remarkables Park, which opens in the first weeks of June 2016.
Currently in the early stages of design, the new Wyndham hotel will comprise 81 serviced hotel apartments with 98 beds and nine ground floor retail units.
Both the new Wyndham property at Remarkables Park and the Ramada Hotel and Suites are being developed by experienced developer Robert Neil’s Safari Group.
Safari Group will also develop 55 residential apartments – a combination of one bedroom, two bedroom and two bedroom with study units – in a separate building immediately adjacent to the new hotel.
Total project value for the development, including the hotel, residential and retail units, is estimated at NZD$58 million.
Remarkables Park Limited CEO, Alastair Porter, said news of the next hotel within the master planned development was indicative of where hotel growth would be strongest in New Zealand’s most popular visitor resort.
Plans for a future scenic gondola and future Queenstown Convention Centre were important further elements of the Remarkables Park master plan.
“We’re all acutely aware of the current shortage of visitor accommodation in Queenstown at peak times in particular, and both hotels will help address that need,” he said.
“Remarkables Park is the largest greenfield site zoned for hotels in the region, so it’s long been envisaged by Council and by Remarkables Park Limited’s development company that a lot of tourism growth would be centred at Remarkables Park,” he said.
According to independent research released this week (24 May) by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise 26 additional hotels, above and beyond what is currently planned, will be needed over the next ten years to meet expected tourism demand in New Zealand’s major tourist centres, of which Queenstown is one.
“The new hotel is great news for the immediate future, and it won’t stop here. We’re still deep in talks with other hotel brands keen to potentially bring more mid-range and high-end properties to the resort,” Porter said.
“The feedback we’re getting is that Remarkables Park certainly ticks all the boxes in terms of its location, stunning mountain views, the rapidly growing Remarkables Park Town Centre, the Remarkables Park entertainment precinct, network of bike and walking trails and proximity to the airport and Lake Wakatipu.
“We’ve really enjoyed working with Robert and the Safari team and are very happy to see that business relationship continue,” he said.
Safari Group is one of the largest and most successful mid-size hotel developers in New Zealand and the new Remarkables Park hotel will be the Group’s 12th guest accommodation property since 2004.
Safari Group Director, Robert Neil, said the decision to move forward with the Wyndham property at Remarkables Park on the eve of the Ramada hotel opening had been an “easy” one to make.
“You know you’ve got a winning formula of easy to develop sunny sites complemented by stunning views and efficient access to everything Queenstown has to offer when the Ramada suites sold so quickly,” he said.
“Demand is still extremely high and Queenstown’s continued tourism growth as well as solid commercial investment and development outside of the hotel industry are all great indicators that it’s not slowing down any time soon.”
Destination Queenstown CEO, Graham Budd, said it was an exciting announcement for Queenstown.
“With the anticipated growth in demand for Queenstown hotel beds we are excited to learn about this new hotel development which will assist in meeting Queenstown’s growing hotel capacity requirements,” he said.