Queenstown, New Zealand

The Dairy Private Hotel

Price per night from$170.34

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (NZD281.74), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Retail therapy

Setting

Queenstown corner

Possibly the world’s most stylish convenience store, The Dairy Private Hotel in Queenstown is a 1920s cornershop, now with updated upholstery: the shelves and registers have been replaced with pattern-clash perfection from British brand House of Hackney. Joyful colour and prints await in every direction (even up on the ceilings). Daily happy hours mean you’ll meet your fellow adventurers (and soft-furnishing fans) – and there’s a hot tub in the courtyard for stargazing and alpine-air inhaling.

 

Smith Extra

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A special bath infusion with peppermint and Epsom salts

Facilities

Photos The Dairy Private Hotel facilities

Need to know

Rooms

12, including one suite.

Check–Out

11am. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £158.67 (NZ$324), including tax at 15 per cent.

More details

Rates don’t usually include breakfast.

At the hotel

Free WiFi throughout, courtyard, hot tub and library. In rooms: Smart TV with Netflix, air-conditioning, T2 tea and coffee, and Soak bath products.

Our favourite rooms

There are just two rooms with a balcony, so if breathing in some of that Southern Alpine air’s a dealbreaker, be sure to request one of those. And if you want to keep tabs on those Remarkables from the comfort of your bed, go for an Oasis Room and you won’t have to move for a view.

Packing tips

The cushions, carpets and wallpapers will take care of any colour requirements for you – feel free to be as beige as possible.

Children

The hotel is adults-only.

Sustainability efforts

Eco-friendly initiatives include using as little plastic as possible, composting and minimising waste, sourcing food locally and ensuring most of the lighting is energy-efficient.

Food and Drink

Photos The Dairy Private Hotel food and drink

Top Table

Stargaze from the comfort of the hot tub, or warm up by the fire.

Dress Code

Hungry hiker.

Hotel restaurant

There’s no restaurant at the hotel, but continental breakfasts of home-made muesli and just-baked bread are served in the lounge every morning. 

Hotel bar

You’ll always be able to quench your thirst in the lounge, where there’s a soft-drink station, as well as tea and coffee to help yourself to. Wines and beers are laid out for a sociable hour every day at 5pm.

Last orders

Breakfast is from 7.30am to 9.30am. The daily happy hour in the bar is between 5pm and 6pm.

Room service

Breakfast can be served in your room if you’d like.

Location

Photos The Dairy Private Hotel location
Address
The Dairy Private Hotel
21 Brecon Street
Queenstown
9300
New Zealand

The hotel is a short stroll from the centre of Queenstown, surrounded by the remarkable Remarkables and close to the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

Planes

Queenstown airport is a 10-minute drive away from the hotel. You’ll be able to hop in a taxi or Uber from there.

Automobiles

It’ll take fewer than five minutes to reach the centre of Queenstown on foot – though a car will come in handy if you plan on exploring further afield. Off-street parking is available at the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

Queenstown is a ski and snowboarding heavyweight – hit the above-average pistes of the Remarkables. Anyone in search of Peter Jackson’s idea of Middle Earth will find Isengard and Lothlorien at Glenorchy, to the north of the city. New Zealand is the bungee-jumping capital of the world (and the highest in the country is nearby, above the Nevis River); you’ll also be able to ride the gondola (right outside the hotel), go jet-boating or hike through some of the spectacular scenery. There are the vineyards of the Gibson Valley and historic mining towns to explore, too. 

Local restaurants

Try Rata for the best Kiwi cuisine around, including Cloudy Bay clams, goat’s cheese profiteroles and manuka-smoked salmon. For casual but delicious Japanese food, track down the alleyway that’s home to Tanoshi. And the burgers at Fergburger have a reputation that precedes them for a reason.  

Local bars

On the Wakatipu waterfront, The Lodge Bar, created by heritage outfitters Rodd & Gunn, is ideal for cocktails and croquettes.

Reviews

Photos The Dairy Private Hotel reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this historic hotel in New Zealand and unpacked their groceries, a full account of their boutique break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Dairy Private Hotel in Queenstown…

Going to the grocery store was never less of a chore than it is with a trip to this old dairy in Queenstown. For any non-Antipodean interlopers expecting to find udders and milking tools, ‘dairy’ Down Under here in New Zealand is actually a cornershop or convenience store (which does, of course, sell milk and butter). 

These days, this esteemed 1920 establishment has had a hipster-friendly makeover, the results of which include intentionally clashing House of Hackney cushions and carpets. There’s even patterned wallpaper on the ceilings. It’s as convenient as ever, though – the centre of town is just a few minutes away on foot, but you’ll get the added benefit of being on the quieter side of Queenstown, right by those immodestly named (but undeniably extraordinary) mountains, the Remarkables.

Price per night from $170.34

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