Interval International rating for The Ridge Resort: Queenstown, New Zealand is Premier, and we rate…read moreThe Ridge Resort in Queenstown as 10/10. New Zealand is a small country, similar in size to Great Britain or Japan. With a population of only four million people it's also gloriously un-crowded, especially in the winter months. We visited for three weeks and encountered one North American (from Halifax, Nova Scotia.) First, we arranged a trade through Interval International, and the on-line description, resort information, and several jpgs are "spot on." Our three bedroom / two bath unit fronted on Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables. On clear days the views of the lake, and, mountains are magnificent Some debate "shall we do the North Island or the South Island?" Our answer is one week in the north and two weeks in the south. It takes nearly three weeks to experience New Zealand without the "glow worm caves." The Ridge Resort in Queenstown may not be Marriott Five Star, but the location and proximity to nearly all sights (south) on the South Island is at excellent. We soon discovered with all three New Zealand vacation exchanges, that there is a lack of central A/C and heating; however, this is a small problem. The Ridge Resort at Queenstown is heated with a fireplace, and vacation owners must be adept at building wood fires. The Ridge Resort at Queenstown is an older resort, but has been newly remodeled. The kitchen and dining room are enclosed in a "greenhouse effect" with sliding glass doors and an abundance of windows. We enjoyed the open space concept. We entered Queenstown shortly before dark, and there is potential confusion because another "Ridge Resort" lies on the road to the holiday unit; in addition there is a Ridge Resort downtown Queenstown, and Interval International supplied only the road and not the house number of the resort. Be prepared to drive about 1/2 mile beyond the "first Ridge Resort." We had the luxury of two years in planning our three-week New Zealand, and one-week Sydney holiday. Because we elected to fly from Cincinnati to LAX to Sydney in Delta Business Elite using Delta Sky Miles, our flight was pure pleasure. We also used Marriott Rewards Points for a week in Sydney at the end of our holiday. In Sydney, we transferred to Virgin Atlantic and arrived in Auckland at 3:45PM; winter night arrives by 5:30PM, and we elected to walk out of the airport, cross the street and overnight at Novotel. Our rental car, (three weeks) a Nissan Bluebird (Sentra,) preformed great in the Southern Alps. We never were required to "chain up," although I have confidence in changing the tires if necessary. We were warmly greeted at all three New Zealand vacation clubs, and because I had insisted on one roller bag each plus a carry-on for laptops, moving was never a challenge. We found a large supermarket within five minutes, and Information Site, and numerous restaurants. It is our habit to prepare a condo breakfast, take a venison pie for lunch from a BP fuel station, and dine in the evening at a local restaurant. At this point, I suggest some travel rules. Helms' Rules: New Zealand & Sydney 1. Rent a car in Auckland, New Zealand (population = 4 million) & rent a Garmin (NZ trains are not developed). Do NOT engage a GROUP TOUR. Resist the Cruise Ship babble; one cannot tour NZ by the coastal ports. 2. Use public transportation in Sydney (population = 4 million); train from airport to Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay 3. Use buses, ferries (NO to taxis) 4. Arrive Auckland, ferry to South Island, Fly out Queenstown to Sydney 5. Visit North Island one week; South Island two weeks, Sydney one week 6. Use Delta Elite points in FLYING Business Class = free beds and gourmet meals & resist alcohol @ 35,000 feet; do use lots of lotion & water. 7. Trade into 3 weeks of condos = free, & have washer/dryers in units. 8. Nearly all "Guidebooks Experts" are useless. I do not require some person to PLAN my trip. I do not require a hotel or restaurant guide. Do consult Tripadvisor.com and mapquest.com 9. Use the WWW and parts of Guidebooks to design one's own trip 10. Choose Taupo Condo on N Island for a Central location, visit the numerous GEOTHERMAL CENTERS. I used a natural set of 5 geothermal pools 5 minutes north of Taupo every day. Resist the Hot Springs Prawn center (Good idea and excellent, but expensive prawns.) 11. Visit both coasts on both Islands 12. Choose MT Hutt condo as central to (center) S Island (Near Christchurch) 13. Choose Queenstown as central to (south) South Island 14. Fill in with Reserved hotels like airport Novotel in Auckland 15. Skip the North of Auckland and skip Auckland 16. Skip the BIG cities_traffic messes 17. Nearly all rental cars are Automatic (rent Garmin) 18. Roundabouts are easy to navigate 19. Take only one roller bag & one small bag; Pack only MICROFIBER or Gortex clothes. DO NOT check luggage. 20. Weather in NZ varies between 30 degr

NEW ZEALAND 2016 When I think of my dream place, I think of…read moreQueenstown, New Zealand. This was absolutely the best timeshare that we have ever traveled to! Exhausted after a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong and another 6 hour flight to New Zealand and a days trip from Christ Church, we arrived late at night. The condo entrance was non-descript. It almost looked like our own Hobbit House. Upon arrival, we went directly to bed. The next morning, I was greeted by the beauty of Queenstown with a panoramic view from the kitchen, dining room and living room. The lake and snow-capped mountains were breathtaking! All I did was take pictures and sent them to my sons so that they would quickly join us. Once they arrived, our vacation was nothing short of incredible. We hiked mountains and trails like the Rutburn, we went to Milford Sound, went speed boating through gorges and enjoyed the quaint shops of Queenstown. I had a ball taking pictures. There was beauty every angle I turned. The condo had 3 bedrooms, plenty room for our family of four. We even had our own jacuzzi and fireplace. The nightly ritual became making a fire and the morning ritual was taking a jacuzzi bath. The fully appointed kitchen had all the utensils to cook the fresh New Zealand lamb. I enjoyed cooking because the view from the kitchen was incredible. We also had some mishaps as my husband broke his arm. That whole episode also turned out fine since he needed surgery and New Zealand has socialized medicine paid for by their $8 per gallon gas tax. All tourists are covered so long as you sign an affidavit that you won't sue. The surgery was done at the teaching hospital in Dunnedin about 3.5 miles away. This trek back and forth was made bearable by the sites of the New Zealand countryside. This was our venture of the South Island, the North Island was equally beautiful with it's hot springs, rocky beaches and Hobittown!

Stunning scenery. Food, drinks, and service were great as well. Definitely recommend working this…read moreinto your itinerary.

This place truly is next level! It's well appointed, higher end, gorgeous views, and truly…read moreexcellent service! The only real downside side was the construction going on right in front of the view. It was very loud and really ruined my experience. I booked a room with a patio lake view because I envisioned sitting out and enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning while being completely relaxed and mesmerized by the view, but instead it was loud jack hammer sounds! I was also excited to sit in the soaker tubs with that view, but the view was also a big crane with construction workers moving about, not as intimate as I envisioned. Once the construction is over, it's a perfect place, until then, not worth the amount I paid for a view. I gave it 4 stars because it's a quality place just not a great time to have chosen it.

I always drop into Alpine Aqualand if i pass through Queenstown. The Hydroslides are fire! The lap…read morepools and lazy river are worth swimming too!

Awesome facility!…read more Our family was in New Zealand for a winter holiday, but we wanted to take a break from the cold and snow. So we decided our 7 year old twins would enjoy a day at Alpine Aqualand (in the Alpine Health and Fitness complex). Alpine Aqualand is basically and indoor pool and mini water park. There are lap swimming lanes, a large pool for kid/family swim, a shallow toddler area, a lazy river, a couple COLD water jets, a hot pool (adults only) and a couple water slides. The slides, however, only operate between 4:00-6:30pm on weekdays and 10:30-6:30 on weekends and holidays. + Indoor pool = HEATED pool (very nice) + Family changing rooms (which includes a toilet, shower and large changing area). + Lockers ($2 plus $8 deposit - CASH ONLY) + Coffee kiosk in the lobby + Small shop in the lobby selling swim suits, goggles, water toys, etc. + Ice cream treats in the lobby as well (of course our girls indulged in a couple Paddle Pops after their morning swim). + Super friendly and helpful staff + Great value ($8 adult / $4 child / $5 waterslide). NO REENTRY. Great, relaxing way to spend the day with the family. Note: No photography allowed. Understandable, due to privacy concerns. But my wife, who photographs the girls and our vacations compulsively, wasn't happy about it.

Parking is a scam here if you have a car. They tell you to park in areas then they put a boot on…read moreyour car. Force you to pay it as they say it's not where you are supposed to park after that's where they told you. Views are not that good here. I suggest staying somewhere else.

Booked a redemption using points, was good value as this was the Xmas week and every hotel was…read morecharging ridiculous prices. Diamond member treatment: - Got the free breakfast for two, but no bottle of wine or welcome amenity in the room. Forgot to ask about it, and then couldn't be bothered. - Booked base room with points, got upgraded to a "deluxe room with lake view" which was barely a view, and not worth it in any case. Do not pay extra for a lakeview room! Rooms: - Modern, had everything you needed. Quiet and the soundproofing was good. - Good shower pressure, temperature. Bathroom door was a sliding door though... so anyone using the toilet... can be heard from the room... - Kitchen was very basic in terms of amenities, I wouldn't try to do a full meal here. Breakfast: - Good selection of foods. Fresh fruit was fresh and tasty. Pastries were standard. Hot food was hit and miss. One day was good, the other day was super bland and inedible. Parking: - NZD16 per day. No half days, no hourly rates. - They also have a car hire scheme by the hour and by the day (NZD130 I think). Called RYD? May be useful for those who don't have a hire car, who want a car for a few hours or a day. Spa access: - To the sauna, steam, and pool in the Hilton next door. The pool looked dirty and not very inviting. The sauna was good. The steam room had not enough steam. A good extra though, especially after a long day out hiking or doing other activities. Overall, a good value stay for our few days in Queenstown on our roadtrip around NZ. The hotel is about 15-20 mins drive away from Queenstown proper, depenidng on traffic, so factor that in if you have loads of activities there and/or dinners.

My partner and I had a lovely stay at the Hilton in queenstown. However our stay was made…read moreextraordinary by the Manager, Mr. Vaibhov Aneja. From the moment we stepped through the doors we felt so taken care of after a long week of road tripping. He was quick to assist us in a room request and he also went out of our way to bring us wine and chocolate as we were celebrating our engagement. The rest of the staff from valet to cleaning services was also incredible and so accommodating. The room was very comfortable and the proximity to the lake is unbeatable. It is a bit outside of the CBD but it was so close to so many incredible restaurants and shops it didn't matter. They also have a water taxi that can take your down to the cbd. We would definitely recommend this place for a stay in Queenstown. We will never forget how special our stay was.

Stayed in the lake suite for 4 nights in May 2026…read more Pros. Service. Breakfast. Views from Suite. Cons. Hotel, although in pretty good shape, is a bit dated. Early 2000 decor despite ~2011 opening. Location. Nothing in less than 30 minutes walking distance as far as non hotel bars/restaurants. The hotel seemed generally clean however there was a very large cockroach in our room. Probably a good place to stay if need a night a night close to airport.

DO NOT COME HERE! This place is absolutely horrible and my worst ever living experience, the…read morecustomer service is also the WORST I have ever encountered. The rooms smell like paint, especially at night when the humidity sets in. We called the owner to ask about the situation to see if they could either switch our room or somehow evacuate the smell, which ended up with the manager walking out of the room, not wanting to help fix the situation at all, he had the WORST attitude. I've never had so much trouble with my travel accommodations! SAVE YOUR MONEY and live somewhere else instead!

Great stay... Far enough for quiet and restful sleep, yet only 2-3 miles from town. The staff was…read moreexcellent. Restaurant and bar on site was also great. They had a hot tub and pool. The rooms were clean, large and very comfortable. We would stay here again! If you are renting a car, do make note that the spaces fill up rather quickly... roughly 9pm or so. If you are out on the town you might have a difficult time finding a "designated" parking space. They did let a few cars park in undesignated yet safe places. Just sayin' ... be mindful of this. Have fun in Queenstown!

Although we stayed at a condo within the resort, we had no direct dealings with the management. So…read morethis review is about our experience with the owners and the condo located at Benbrae Resort. The condo we stayed in was absolutely fantastic. To quote my youngest when we first walked in: "NOW THIS IS A CONDO!" 2 bedrooms / 2 baths Full and modern kitchen. Even has a dishwasher - hell, I don't even have one of those at home. Didn't use it, however. Forgot how to after 13 years without one. Gas fireplace . . . excellent, my family loved this. Quiet neighborhood. Lower units have parking spaces/stalls. Upper unit parking is right in front of each unit, along the driveway/roadway. Rubbish/recycling containers on premises, just a bit inside the entrance/exit. There's a pool and hot tub. We didn't use the pool since it was winter when we visited, but I did witness a few adventurers dipping in. Braver than me - I fear the ice water might stop something I'd rather it didn't . . . like my heart . . . not to mention the "shrink" factor implications. The hot tub, on the other hand, was FANTASTIC!!! My girls LOVED it. Oh, this ISN'T a jacuzzi, it's a simply a hot tub/hot pool. NOTES: There are NO food stores of note nearby. Buy food in Queenstown or Wanaka. There is, however, a restaurant/bar at the Cordrona Hotel. Queenstown is a 45-60 minute drive depending on road quality (snow, ice etc). over the Crowne Pass. Almost 2 hours drive if it's closed. Wanaka is a 20-25 minute drive. Cardrona Alpine resort (alpine skiing) and Snow Farm (cross country skiing) are both 20 minuets away, but on opposite mountains. Rent a 4WD and carry chains AT ALL TIMES. These drives can be challenging if you're not accustomed to driving mountain roads in winter conditions. This is a GREAT base if you aren't committed to any specific activity. Both ski resorts offer lodging if you just want to either alpine or cross country ski exclusively. Staying there would save the treacherous and, at times, terrifying daily commute.

This resort is about 50 minutes away from Queenstown and its out of nowhere! There's nothing to do…read morehere besides snowboarding or skiing. Even if you want to do that you would have to drive an additional about 30 minutes up to Cardrona Alpine Resort. After checking out Cardrona Alpine Resort, we decided to check in and drop off our luggage before driving back to the party life in Queenstown. As we were settling in there was a knock at the door. It was the manager and she was asking us how many people were in the room and we stated four. We explained to the manager that the other two people will be heading back to Queenstown while we stay here. She had the nerve to say "ok I don't like people sneaking other people in. I'll be back to check up on you guys!" Really? Unbelievable!! The manager was basically accusing us of sneaking additional people into our room. Really? Since when we can't have guests? How dare her of accusing us of doing such thing. That kind of ruined our trip. Worse customer service ever! I would recommend staying in Queenstown and just drive to Cardrona. There are more things to do in Queenstown and no one from the hotels would bother you like this one. Again there's nothing to do in Cardrona besides snowboarding or skiing and you can't be doing this all day long.