Queenstown Accommodation: Something for Every Budget
Six places to stay around Queenstown and Wanaka, and what each one actually means once you have a car with you: parking, distance and how often you will use it.
Where to Stay in Queenstown, and What It Means for the Car
Queenstown accommodation runs from a bunk on Church Street to a lodge on the road to Glenorchy, and the choice changes more than the bill. Where you stay decides whether you park in town or on a hill, whether you want the car every day or only some of them, and how far you start from the things you came here for. Here are six that cover the range, from a bunk in the middle of town to a dome at Lake Hawea, and what each one actually means once you have a car with you. Need wheels for it? Evolve Rentals brings the car to where you are staying in Queenstown.
Right in the Middle of It
The Crowne Plaza is at 93 Beach Street, on the lakefront and about a minute from everything. You will not touch the car on the days you stay in town, which sounds like a mark against it and is not. It makes it the easiest base if the plan is two or three proper day trips rather than driving somewhere every morning.
The Novotel Queenstown Lakeside is the same idea a few minutes round the waterfront. Both are walkable to the point where the car becomes a day trip tool rather than daily transport, and with both, the thing worth asking about before you arrive is parking rather than the room.
Up the Hill, for the View
Kamana Lakehouse sits at 139 Fernhill Road, about 2.6 kilometres and five minutes above the centre, looking straight down the lake at The Remarkables. Parking is free on site, which matters more than it sounds.
This is the point where the car stops being optional. Fernhill Road is a hill, and the walk back up it after dinner in town is a walk nobody does twice. Everyone who stays up here drives, and the view is worth the five minutes.
Out on the Road to Glenorchy
Rosewood Matakauri is a lodge at 569 Glenorchy Road, 8 kilometres and about 15 minutes out of town. The top of the range, and the one where the car is not a convenience but the entire plan, because you are pointed at the best drive in the district before you have had breakfast.
Worth Leaving the District For
Cross Hill Lodge and Domes sits at Lake Hawea on State Highway 6, a short run past Wanaka. It is about 82 kilometres and an hour and twenty from Queenstown over the Crown Range, and it is luxury geodesic domes with a shared lodge rather than hotel rooms.
There is no version of this that works without a car, which is exactly the appeal. You drive the Crown Range to get there, you are minutes from Lake Hawea itself and about twenty from Wanaka, and the nearest thing to public transport is the road you came in on. The Crown Range run covers what else is out that way. Worth knowing before you plan around it: they take bookings June to January, so it is not a year round option.
On a Budget, and Central With It
Nomads is at 5 to 11 Church Street, about as central as Queenstown gets. Dorms with and without ensuites, private ensuite rooms, and a travel desk on site if you would rather somebody booked things for you.
Being straight about it: staying here you do not need a car every day. You are in the middle of town and most of the operators are on your doorstep. Hire one for the days you actually want to leave the valley and skip it for the rest.
So What Does the Choice Actually Change?
- Central, so Crowne Plaza, Novotel or Nomads. Some days you will not start the car at all. Council parking in the town centre is paid through the day and free from 6pm until 8am, and on public holidays. The council parking map shows where everything is, and it is worth two minutes before you arrive.
- Up the hill or out of town, so Kamana or Matakauri. You will use the car every day, and parking stops being a question.
- Out of the district altogether, so Cross Hill. The car is not part of the trip, it is the trip. Budget the Crown Range each way and plan the day around it rather than against it.
- Either way the drives are the same drives. Where you sleep changes how often you get in the car, not what there is to go and see.
Where Do You Go From There?
Out at Matakauri or up at Kamana you are already on the right side of town for the road to Glenorchy. Wherever you land, Best Dining Destinations in Queenstown Worth the Drive covers eating out of town, and if the budget is the point, half price dinner is a real thing here and worth knowing about.
The Bit That Does Not Change
In Queenstown we bring the car to you. Nobody else here does that, and it is the entire reason Evolve exists. Whichever of these you pick, the car turns up where you are staying, so your first morning does not start with a taxi to somebody's depot and a queue at a desk.
Book Your Car
Pick your dates and we will bring it to you. Evolve Rentals.
FAQs
Where is the best place to stay in Queenstown?
It depends whether you would rather walk or drive. Central, so Crowne Plaza, Novotel or Nomads, if you want to be in the middle of it. Fernhill or the Glenorchy Road, so Kamana or Matakauri, if you want the view and the free parking.
Do you need a car if you stay in central Queenstown?
Not for the town itself, which is walkable. You need one for everything outside it, which is most of the reason people come.
Does Evolve deliver to hotels in Queenstown?
Yes. We bring the car to your accommodation in Queenstown, wherever you are staying.
How far is Rosewood Matakauri from Queenstown?
About 8 kilometres and 15 minutes, out on the Glenorchy Road.