Lake Wakatipu · Queenstown · New Zealand
A five-star lakeside retreat above the Wakatipu
Ninety-four refined rooms and suites, Central Otago dining, a mountain spa and a private gaming lounge for adult guests — one address on Fernhill Road, seven minutes from the centre of Queenstown.
- Position
- 45°02′S 168°39′E
- Elevation
- 412 m
- Established
- 2009
- Gaming lounge
- 20+ only
Built into the hillside, turned toward the water
Harrier Lodge opened in 2009 on a schist terrace above Fernhill Road, where the road bends and the whole southern arm of Lake Wakatipu comes into view. Seventeen years later it is still run by the same family company, with a long-serving team who know most returning guests by name.
The building is deliberately low and horizontal — cedar, local stone and a great deal of glass — so that nothing competes with the view of Cecil Peak and Walter Peak across the water. Inside are ninety-four rooms and suites, the restaurant Tarn, the wine bar The Gibbston Room, Tāhuna Spa, four event spaces and, on the lower level, a quiet gaming lounge open to guests and visitors aged 20 and over.
Guests describe us as a casino hotel, and that is fair enough — but the gaming lounge is one room among many. Most of what we do is hospitality in the ordinary sense: a good bed, a decent breakfast, someone at the desk at three in the morning who can arrange a car to the airport.
The lounge, looking south to Cecil Peak
Restaurant & Bar
Tarn, and The Gibbston Room next door
Tarn seats sixty-four and changes its menu four times a year. Central Otago lamb and venison, Aoraki salmon, stone fruit from Cromwell in late summer, vegetables from two growers in the Wakatipu Basin. Breakfast runs long; dinner is served from six.
The Gibbston Room, one door along, is the wine bar — around ninety labels from the valley and the wider region, most of them available by the glass.
- Breakfast 6:30 – 10:30 daily
- Dinner 18:00 – 22:00 daily
- Wine bar 15:00 – late
Spa & Wellness
Tāhuna Spa
Four treatment rooms including one for couples, a hot pool set into the terrace that stays warm through a Queenstown winter, a sauna, and a gym that house guests can use at any hour with their room key.
Treatments use a New Zealand skincare range and run from a forty-minute massage to a half-day programme. Booking a day ahead is wise in July and August.
- Spa hours 9:00 – 20:00 daily
- Hot pool 7:00 – 22:00
- Gym 24 hours, guests only
Casino & Gaming
The Aurora Room
Our gaming lounge occupies the lower level: slot machines along the eastern wall, table games in the centre — blackjack, roulette, baccarat and poker — and the high-limit Cecil Room behind glass at the far end. Dealers are ours, trained here, and the room is deliberately small.
Entry is restricted to adults aged 20 and over. Photo identification is checked at the door, every time, regardless of appearance.
- Open 12:00 – 03:00 daily
- Entry 20+ · photo ID
- Dress Smart casual after 18:00
Meetings & Events
Four rooms, eight to two hundred and twenty
The Wakatipu Room takes two hundred and twenty for a wedding or a conference plenary. Two smaller rooms divide for workshops, and the Walter Peak boardroom seats eight around one table with the lake behind you.
Catering comes from Tarn's kitchen. Our events coordinator handles the rest — including the parts that happen off-site, from a jet boat charter to a bus to Arrowtown.
- Largest space 220 guests, theatre
- Boardroom 8 guests
- Catering By Tarn
Six ways to stay
Every room has a lake or mountain aspect, blackout curtains, a proper desk and a bath. Rates are per room, per night, including breakfast for two and GST. Scroll for the full list →
Queenstown, and everything within an hour of it
Fernhill sits above the western edge of town. It is a fifteen-minute walk down to the Queenstown waterfront and the Steamer Wharf, or seven minutes by car; the lodge runs a shuttle on the hour between eight in the morning and eleven at night.
From the front door: the Skyline gondola and Ben Lomond track, the TSS Earnslaw across to Walter Peak, jet boats on the Shotover, and in winter the road up to Coronet Peak and The Remarkables. Arrowtown is twenty minutes east, the Gibbston Valley cellar doors half an hour, Glenorchy forty-five minutes along one of the better drives in the country, and Milford Sound a long, worthwhile day return.
Our concierge books all of it, and will tell you honestly when the weather means you should do something else instead.
The Remarkables from the terrace, early winter
On the water
Scenic cruises on the TSS Earnslaw, kayaking from Sunshine Bay, jet boating on the Shotover and Dart rivers, and lake swimming in February for the brave.
On the mountains
Coronet Peak and The Remarkables from June to October, Ben Lomond and Queenstown Hill on foot year-round, and mountain biking in the Wakatipu Bike Park through summer.
Slower days
Gibbston Valley wine tours, the Arrowtown Chinese settlement, Central Otago stone fruit in season, and some of the darkest night skies in the Southern Hemisphere.
We care for the people in our building
The Aurora Room is a small part of Harrier Lodge, and we would rather it stayed that way. Our host responsibility policy is written down, our staff are trained to recognise when someone is no longer enjoying themselves, and self-exclusion is available at the door — confidentially, in writing, and honoured for as long as you ask.
Nobody under 20 is admitted. There are no ATMs on the gaming floor. Clocks are visible from every table, and the room closes at three.
- 94
- Rooms & suites
- 17
- Years of hospitality
- 41,800+
- Guests welcomed
- ★★★★★
- Five-star resort
- 4
- Event spaces
Write to us directly
Reception answers the phone at any hour, and this form reaches the reservations desk. Tell us roughly what you are after and we will come back with options, availability and a firm rate.
- Telephone+64 3 442 7180
- Reservations[email protected]
- Address148 Fernhill Road, Queenstown 9300, Otago
- Reception24 hours, every day
Thank you — your enquiry is with us.
The reservations desk replies within one business day. If it is urgent, telephone +64 3 442 7180 — reception is staffed 24 hours.