Flockhill: New Zealand’s stylish, new, $18k-a-night luxurious sheep station

It has been dubbed the “Chicest Sheep Station within the World” by the overseas press. It is positively one of the costly.

The newly renovated Flockhill Lodge in Arthur’s Go is a $18,000-per-night property. Did we point out there’s a two evening minimal?

Regardless of being solely freshly opened in its new five-star guise, the station close to Canterbury’s Fortress Hill is already being in comparison with ultra-luxury lodges just like the house age Lindis Lodge within the Ahuriri Valley or Kauri Cliffs.

Returned from a journey luxurious journey present in Marrakech, lodge supervisor Andrew Cullen says it is the one New Zealand property worldwide travellers had been anxious to know extra about.

“There is definitely a profit to being the ‘new children on the block’,” he says.

Two years of closed borders has solely elevated curiosity in New Zealand’s luxurious lodging. So a brand new property bordering the dramatic outcrops of Kura Tawhiti / Fortress Hill is bound to show heads.

Fawning evaluations within the New York Instances and the Monetary Instances have praised the “easy” imaginative and prescient of architect Jonathan Coote and shared proclamations by the Dalai Lama that this secluded a part of the Craigieburn Ranges could be “the religious centre of the universe”. They’re unlikely to have identified that previous to its deluxe reincarnation, Flock Hill Station was host to extra modest lodgings.

The red-roofed cabins and campground had been a part of the unique providing on the 1500 ha sheep station. Utilized by the native clubbie ski fields and hikers in summer season, it was a low profile operation on the station owned by Canterbury College. The delapidated stays of the historic 1857 homestead are nonetheless on the location.

However since 2010 the American leaseholders have had upscale designs on the land.
The four-bedroom “Flockhill Lodge” lastly accomplished in 2019 was step one in Flock Hill’s transition to luxurious.

It’s perched excessive above the situation of the “three-star backpacker lodging” as Cullen describes the huts. This privileged place gives views over Lake Pearson and Arthur’s Go valley.

There are plans to construct 14 new chalets on the location instead of the previous cabins, together with a spa and restaurant. There are additionally designs for quarters for as much as 28 live-in workers.

Its place on the primary artery of Freeway 73 from the West Coast is a good place for extra informal enterprise and a high-end meals providing. One thing that might be a welcome break for coast-to-coast travellers.

The TranzAlpine Categorical additionally cuts by means of the center of the property.

“The plans have stayed what they had been since we first bought concerned three and a half years in the past.”

Cullen took over as lodge supervisor in 2019 together with spouse Sandra. Previous to this he had been at Treetops Lodge, Rotorua and Kinloch Manor in Taupō.

There may be an urge for food for New Zealand luxurious journey from overseas, notably publish pandemic.

“Luxurious is one thing New Zealand simply does higher,” he says.

“The enchantment of New Zealand luxurious lodging is their proximity. Versus the huge distances between Australian properties. It appeals to US travellers who spend 10 to 12 days at a time, and need to match rather a lot into that point.”

For now the lodge on the Waimakere is the one lodging providing, accessible as an entire property buyout. Whereas full completion of those grand designs is a way, off the lodge has already had some guests, notably from different high-end lodging operators.

“We cooperate with rather a lot with different luxurious properties. We had guests from Otahuna final weekend. We’re actually spoilt for alternative in Canterbury by the vary of lodging.”

He sees the primary excessive season correct will probably be 2023/24 however there are already bookings for this summer season.

By nature a lot of the lodge’s present bookings are inbound from abroad. 80 per cent of those are from the USA.

American travellers have been emboldened by sturdy foreign money trade and new alternatives to spend it. In consequence high-end journey is seeing a increase all over the world. This summer season 5-star accommodations in Europe have unabashedly been placing up their charges to “take benefit” of the inflow.

New Zealand has been a bit slower to see a few of this return.

Regardless of having reopened borders in April, journey brokers nonetheless see there may be some hesitation from inbound journey. Some cite considerations that they do not need to be trapped in one other lockdown.

Cullen says that the previous two years have rattled the excessive worth worldwide traveller.

Nevertheless, there have been some positives from the closed borders with many luxurious lodges having seen an uptick in native journey.

“Everybody has been so stunned by the help of the home market throughout Covid. Excessive-value travellers in New Zealand had been taking the chance to discover their again yard whereas borders had been closed. They’re nonetheless getting repeat bookings by means of now.”

Flockhill is out there for 1 to eight visitors sole occupancy from $18000 per evening through the summer season season, with a two evening minimal. There’s a $1500 per-night extra cost for bookings between 24 December and a couple of January. flockhillnz.com