Eichardt's Private Hotel

Eichardt's Private Hotel sits directly on the waterfront of Lake Wakatipu, defined by its textured stone exterior and classic proportions that distinguish it from the surrounding buildings. This site was originally the location of a woolshed erected in eighteen fifty-nine by William Gilbert Rees, a Welsh explorer who arrived seeking pastoral land. When gold was discovered nearby in eighteen sixty-two, the quiet homestead became the center of a chaotic gold rush, and the woolshed was quickly fitted with a wooden facade to become the Queen's Arms Hotel.