Queenstown’s most enchanting stay still feels like a secret

High above Lake Wakatipu, Hulbert House pairs rare heritage, warm hospitality and quietly theatrical interiors with a sense of old Queenstown that few addresses can match

If you’re looking to avoid the selfie-posing adventure set lured to Queenstown for an action-packed adventure, you’re in luck at Hulbert House. Sited high on the hillside above Lake Wakatipu’s bustling lakefront, Hulbert House offers a beguiling blend of historic grandeur and serene luxury.

While downtown pulses with adrenaline-fueled fun, this Heritage-listed hotel provides a tranquil retreat within walking distance of all the action. Its elegant restoration transports guests to the sophistication of the late 1800s, when the region was in the grip of the Otago gold rush. By 1871 Queenstown had become a thriving goldmining town, with a population explosion of starry-eyed fortune hunters. Some were more intent on making their fortune from gold miners themselves and established hotels like the Hotel Eichardt, which still stands today, to cater for new arrivals.

Long before gold European pioneers arrived, Maori peoples thrived in the remarkable landscape that Queenstown is now famous for. According to Maori legend, Lake Wakatipu was formed when a brave warrior (Matakauri) rescued a Maori chief’s daughter (Manata) who had been kidnapped by a cruel giant (Matua). As they escaped, Matakauri set fire to the sleeping giant whose body melted and created a massive hole, which soon filled with melted ice and snow. The S-shaped lake of today was the result. People say that Matua’s heart still beats, which accounts for the mysterious 12-centimetre rise and fall of the lake’s water.

High on the hill above the lake, from the moment the whitewashed gates swing open and the scent of lavender greets me, it’s clear Hulbert House is no ordinary luxe hotel. I’ve checked into the most recent addition, the MacFarlane Suite, with the intention of exploring Queenstown. Though, truth be known, I find it hard to leave this elegant enclave to explore further afield.

Historic Hulbert House exudes 1880s grandeur

The hotel’s ornate veranda, gabled roofline and manicured gardens speak of a bygone era. Inside, the ambience is of refined comfort.

Imported marble fireplaces and elaborately decorated ceilings feature. Joinery is inlaid with glass panels adorned with gold leaf work. Stained glass windows capture the light, sending shards of colour across vividly wallpapered walls. Custom made carpet provides softness underfoot. Pineapple light shades in the Palm Lounge allude to the wealth of the original residents.

Added extras include complimentary breakfast cooked to order, along with evening cocktails and canapes. Attentive, discreet service is a given. Plus, there’s an electric vehicle to deliver me to or from downtown restaurants along with e-bikes, should I wish to ride around the lake.

Each of the seven suites is a tribute to influential identities from the villa’s storied past, their names etched on brass plaques and their stories woven into the walls of the building. Suites provide more than just luxurious accommodation, which they do amply. Rather, they embrace living chapters of Queenstown’s colourful history.

Stories in every suite

The Firth Suite, for example, honours Catherine and Horatio Nelson Firth, whose ambition and subsequent fall from grace mirror the fortunes of Queenstown itself. The suite’s regal decor and sweeping lake views framed by oversized sash windows recall the days when Catherine invited high society to gather for tea on the veranda.

The Firth’s commissioned New Zealand’s leading architect to design a home ‘fit for a gentleman’. Horatio was a respected businessman and gold miner who held the position as the Receiver of Gold Revenue. By 1889, they had moved into what was one of the largest residential buildings in Queenstown.

However, the Firth family’s fortunes plummeted when Horatio succumbed to the tempting allure of the gold he was entrusted with. He was charged with embezzlement and imprisoned, leaving the family’s reputation in tatters. Catherine turned the family home into a boarding house to support their large family. After Horatio was eventually released, they sold up and hightailed it to Wellington, where presumably his reputation as a swindler was less widely known.

The villa passed through numerous hands over the ensuing century, with its fortunes fluctuating along with its owners through prosperity to poverty and back again. Its current stewardship, in the hands of billionaire Japanese New Zealander Soichiro Fukutake, in partnership with designer Neil McLachlan, has seen it restored into one of Queenstown’s finest boutique hotels.

The Archerfield Suite is named for the villa’s role as WWII refuge for young women from Archerfield Girls’ School of Dunedin. The suite features hand painted tiles capturing the spirit of the era, depicting a young woman in Victorian-era dress wielding a tennis racquet and another reading a book.

The Malaghan Suite – designed for wheelchair accessibility –  blends contemporary elegance with historical reverence. The light-filled room features shades of blue and white accented with touches of antique gold and slate grey. It pays homage to Queenstown’s first Mayor, who was the original landowner.

The recently opened MacFarlane Suite celebrates Elizabeth MacFarlane. Her stewardship of the grand villa saw it transformed initially as a private nursing home for the elderly and infirm before operating it as a guest house for another 11 years. She renamed it Tutuila and commissioned a brass plaque, which remains on the front door. The MacFarlane suite is boldly designed with vibrant striped wallpaper in the family’s tartan colours of burnt orange and charcoal with accents of deep green. An antique cabinet houses Royal Albert Bone china tea set and oversized sash windows bathe the room in natural light.

…it offers a quiet retreat from Queenstown’s selfie-seeking crowds, inviting guests instead into the town’s golden age in this elegant enclave high on the hill.

Living history meets modern luxury

It is this beguiling integration of past and present that lies at the heart of Hulbert House’s allure. Whether sipping tea from fine china, savouring an Aperol Spritz on the veranda, or watching the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw glide across Lake Wakatipu as thrill-seeking jetboats cut across its wake, the pleasure lies partly in how easily the house folds another era into the present. More than that, though, it offers a quiet retreat from Queenstown’s selfie-seeking crowds, inviting guests instead into the town’s golden age in this elegant enclave high on the hill.

Elizabeth Macfarlane’s grandson Phillip recently gifted an early guest book to the current owners, and guests are welcome to leaf through reflections that likely echo their own. “Our stay was like a summer day,” wrote one guest. Another noted that Hulbert House “has everything to make me happy”. Others put it more simply: “We do not wish to leave.”

I feel the same way.