Publication | The Telegraph (UK)
“Built with money from New Zealand’s 19th-century gold rush, Hulbert House has been lovingly restored to create a luxurious Victorian guesthouse a stone’s throw from the centre of Queenstown.”
8 / 10 Location
Hulbert House is situated just above central Queenstown on the lower flank of Queenstown Hill. The walk to the lakefront takes six minutes and cuts straight through the heart of town. The base station of the gondola to Bob’s Peak is a 10-minute walk away, but a superior view is to be enjoyed from the top of Queenstown Hill directly behind the hotel: a leisurely round-trip takes two hours on foot. Queenstown Airport is an 11-minute taxi ride and the historic village of Arrowtown 20-minutes by car.
9 / 10 Style and Character
The owners have gone to great lengths to source antique furniture, soft furnishings, custom-designed carpets, bathroom fittings and tiles, chandeliers, objets d’art and historical photographs to create a live-in museum. The effect is as bright and bold as well-heeled Victorians would have had it: the extraordinary Chinese-print, royal-blue-and-white carpet the first in a series of colour explosions to assail the visitor. It sounds overwhelming, but it’s great fun: like the film set for an exotic Agatha Christie adaptation.
8 / 10 Services and Facilities
Guests at Hulbert House are ‘hosted’: service can be as unobtrusive as required, but one of the great pleasures of boutique accommodation is the opportunity for a more informal, shared experience. Staff are knowledgeable and very helpful, but also happy to take the time to chat and share a joke.
The salon and bar with its leafy plants and turquoise-print wallpaper is a great place for books and conversation, and there’s a patio with a view of the town and lake. There are two electric bikes available for guests and a 50-inch television in the event of a crucial sporting fixture.