Where to stay in Queenstown (the best areas and hotels)
My guide to the very best hotels and places to stay in Queenstown
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Queenstown, the regal lakeside beauty, is on most travellers’ hit lists when they set a course for the South Island. The alpine town is just that, though — a town — with a compact little centre.
Space is at a premium and popularity comes with a price tag, which means rooms in Queenstown cost more than almost anywhere else in New Zealand.
Accommodation ranges from rowdy backpackers to the most elite lodges in New Zealand. Even so, it pays to book in advance to secure a decent price and your desired place to stay – rooms here get booked up quickly.
I haven’t stayed everywhere, but I have tried to give honest reviews of the places I have first hand experience of.
Places I have stayed in Queenstown (and that I would recommend)
$ — Tahuna Pod Hostel is a great budget option or for solo travellers. It attracts an older, calmer crowd, unlike a lot of the other hostels in Queenstown.
$$ — Scenic Suites: Conveniently located a 10 minute walk from the centre of town, I loved the lake view and amenities like a washer and dryer in the suite. The breakfast at the hotel was average at best, but that’s not an issue when cafes are so close by.
$$ — Mountain View Barn: This holiday house is a 15 minute drive from Queenstown, in a peaceful rural setting. If you don’t mind self catering it’s a gorgeous location and the house itself is cosy, modern, and well equipped. A highlight is the hot tub in the garden.
$$$ — Millbrook Resort: I loved staying out in Arrowtown, away from the hustle and bustle of Queenstown central. Millbrook has complimentary shuttles to take you to and from town, and Arrowtown itself has nice restaurants and serves as a good base for exploring the area.
Choosing where to stay
Queenstown Central
The very centre of Queenstown is compact — most shops, restaurants, and tour desks are contained within a small grid you can walk around within 15 minutes.
The lakefront in town is a beautiful place for a morning or evening stroll, but if you want somewhere a little apart from the crowds, walk through the Queenstown Gardens over to Park Street, which is part of the Frankton Track along the lake. Following the lakeside along the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu, the trail takes you past quieter waterfront spots to sit and enjoy the views.
A few things to note about the centre of Queenstown – parking is difficult and often expensive. Circling the tight streets of the busy centre trying to locate a parking spot can be stressful. Your best bet is often the large Wilson Parking buildings, or to plan to pick up your rental car when you leave Queenstown.
Central Queenstown’s bars and restaurants very much cater to the tourist market. Largely staffed with international visitors on working holidays, and typically packed with a younger (and just as international) crowd determined to have a good time, these venues are either vibrant or noisy, depending on your perspective.
If you prefer quieter environs, consider staying out of the centre.
The evening view from the living room of my suite at Scenic Suites in Queenstown
Perched on a hill on the edge of the town centre, Scenic Suites (part of the New Zealand owned and operated Scenic Hotel Group) does offer scenic views from some of the rooms – I had a beautiful view of the lake, but I know not all equivalent rooms were so lucky.
Even without a lake view, though, these rooms offer decent value for money.
The bathrooms are more functional than luxurious, but the rest of the suites are well-equipped, with a washing machine and dryer, a coffee machine, and generously sized living areas (there are also studio rooms on offer, which are a little smaller).
In my suite, the separate bedroom opened onto a little balcony, and the spacious living room had floor to ceiling windows to better capture the view of the lake.
It’s only a 10 minute walk to the very centre of town, but note that you will have to walk uphill to get back to the hotel.
I was hosted at Scenic Suites as part of a media famil. Rates start from around $425 a night for a one-bedroom suite
Tahuna Pod Hostel
Queenstown attracts as many young backpackers as it does affluent travellers, so there’s no shortage of hostels.
There is, however, a shortage of clean, quiet hostels – most of the budget accommodation in town involves ramshackle metal bunk beds, thin walls, and minimal floor space (at least in my experience).
Tahuna Pod Hostel is the exception, with spacious pod beds, generous lockers for storage, and facilities that are immaculately clean (along with a prime location only minutes walk from the centre of town).
Of course, this comes at a higher price point – although the upside of that is that guests in Tahuna are a little more diverse in age than the cheapest hostels, with a whole range of travellers.
The thing everyone has in common is a shared appreciation for a quiet, clean, place to stay that doesn’t break the bank. I have been a repeat visitor at Tahuna and highly recommend it for solo travellers on a budget.
I have always paid for my stay at Tahuna Pod Hostel. Rates start from around $75 a night for a dorm bed
The Sherwood has some great co-friendly credentials, and a little more personality than some of the newer properties around town.
The hotel is solar powered, thanks to an immense array of solar panels; at the time they were installed, this was New Zealand’s largest private solar array. Organic waste is composted and returned to the kitchen garden, which in turn helps supply the restaurant.
The restaurant itself is worth visiting even if you don’t get a room at the Sherwood. Almost all of the food served is sourced from New Zealand, with 75% from the South Island.
The rooms have a bohemian appeal (whether you like the low-lying beds is a matter of both taste and mobility) with some unique furnishings like the kilim cushions and rugs. But, they tend to be on the darker side, and show their age in the plastic shower curtains and thin walls. Room rates tend to fall into the mid-range for Queenstown.
There are also some cool community and wellbeing initiatives, like an onsite sauna (free for guests) and yoga classes ($25).
The hotel is located halfway between the centre and Frankton, which is great if you have a car (free parking) but a hindrance if you’re relying on public transport (it’s at least an hour to walk into town).
Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel
NEW ZEALAND OWNED
With just 22 guest rooms, this hotel keeps things cosy. The small size means staff are ready and able to tailor guests’ stays, helping to organise activities, transport, and anything else you might need during your stay.
There are no lake views to go with the luxury price tag, but room rates include complimentary pre-dinner drinks and canapés – a lovely and relaxed social hour – a daily á la carte breakfast, and bicycles.
Rates from $799 per night with breakfast included
Fernhill
Residential Fernhill sits on a hillside overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Many of the properties there have standout views and quieter environs than the centre of Queenstown.
The only downside is that you’ll be a 20 minute walk from the restaurants, bars, and activities of the centre, but that can be a worthy price to pay for peace, quiet, and stunning lake views.
Kamana Lakehouse
The most prominent feature of Kamana Lakehouse is the spectacular view, which the property does its best to maximise via towering windows in all the public spaces. The view from the restaurant, Nest, is easily the most scenic of any dining room in Queenstown. Not all of the rooms share the lake view, though – some overlook the carpark.
Other features of pale wood and stone give Kamana an almost Scandinavian feel that fits with the alpine scenery.
The downside of Kamana’s perch on the hillside above the lake is that it’s a 25 minute walk uphill from the centre of Queenstown. The walk downhill is pleasant, however, and the public bus will get you back to the hotel in around 10 minutes.
Frankton
The view from Frankton Beach
Staying in Frankton is more an exercise in practicality than romance.
Frankton is mostly strip malls, supermarkets and the airport, but it’s convenient if most of your planned activities are outside of Queenstown itself.
Parking is much easier to find and usually free, you’re close to amenities if you need to shop for snacks before a hike, and the airport is literally walking distance from some properties.
And it’s not ugly, by any means. Frankton isn’t really a destination in itself, but Frankton beach is a nice place to watch the sunset.
Sudima Queenstown Five Mile
HOTEL | NEW ZEALAND OWNED
Sudima Queenstown Five Mile is a great option if you’d prefer to stay in Frankton. It’s not the most inspiring location for a hotel, right on the edge of a strip mall, but the convenience of having shops and ample parking nearby is ideal if you’re not worried about being out of the centre. This hotel only opened in 2021, so it’s relatively new, and the design is immaculate.
Rates start from around $440 a night for a twin room
Driftaway Queenstown
LOCALLY OWNED | HOLIDAY PARK
An exceedingly comfortable holiday park, located right in front of the water at the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu, Driftaway has everything from tent sites, to powered campervan parks, and cabins (with options for both shared and private bathrooms).
This makes it one of the best places in Queenstown for a budget-friendly stay regardless of whether or not you’re travelling in a campervan. Facilities include kitchens and a family-friendly jumping pillow and playground.
Cabins from $249 a night; powered sites from $100 a night
Arrowtown
For a quieter area to stay, Arrowtown is 20km (12 miles) or a 15 minute drive from Queenstown.
Arrowtown is a gold-rush era village that has been so well preserved you half expect to see muddy-booted prospectors trudging down the street amongst the tourists. The main street is a short but sweet parade of original buildings. Although the quaint facades have been kept intact, the buildings now house a range of boutique stores, restaurants and bars. A few minutes walk from the centre is a partially restored Chinese village, dating back to the 1880s. It provides a glimpse into the often overlooked role of Chinese prospectors in the gold rush.
Arrowtown is ideal for a half day out from Queenstown, but it also works well as a base. There are a number of good places to eat and drink in Arrowtown, plus the crowds thin out significantly later in the day.
Glenorchy
Located 45 minutes from Queenstown, it’s worth going to Glenorchy for the drive along the edge of the lake alone; the views are spectacular.
However, most of the activities you can do in Glenorchy offer free transport from Queenstown, so there’s no need to base yourself in the village of 500 odd people, unless you want to be away from the Queenstown crowds.
If you don’t mind the tiny selection of places to eat and stay, and you’re mostly in the area to hike, Glenorchy is a great jumping off point for exploring Mount Aspiring National Park.
The Headwaters Eco Lodge
Although this luxury eco accommodation is located in Glenorchy, a 45 minute drive from Queenstown, I’m including it anyway as it’s a truly exceptional place to stay. Its sustainability credentials are top notch.
This lodge feels perfectly integrated with the landscape. It’s one of the most thoughtfully designed places I have stayed.
I loved all the details, like the heavy wooden beams throughout, recycled materials, and landscaped gardens with stones, native grasses, and even a fire pit.
It did get sold a few years ago to billionaire developers, which I don’t love, but the lodge has stayed committed to sustainability and reinvesting profits into the community, which is good.
Glenorchy is just a small village, but you can easily stroll to the lake and check out the famous red shed, or just go for a coffee next door at Mrs Woolleys General Store.
Thanks for reading this far — I hope my recommendations helped you select a special place to stay in Queenstown.
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