Luxury lake-side lodge goes on the market for sale

Luxury lake-side lodge goes on the market for sale

One of Taupo’s elite group of high-end luxury lodges has been placed on the market for sale. Chalet Eiger on the edge of Lake Taupo is a purpose-built four-bedroom lodge whose rates range up to $608 in the height of the tourist season.

The 510 square metre property was built in 2005 and was based around the Swiss architectural styles of its European-born owner/operator Emil Horvath. The lodge has a five-star Qualmark rating, and is ranked alongside the region’s premier accommodation providers – sitting beside the likes of Huka Lodge, Point Villas, Tongariro Lodge, Lake Taupo Lodge, and Te Kowhai.

Communal guest amenities within Chalet Eiger include a library, lounge with an open fire, a four-person sauna, and a large dining room serviced by a semi-commercial grade kitchen. All four of the luxury guest rooms are air conditioned, have their own ensuites, and feature balconies overlooking the Lake Taupo with a vista further afield towards Mt Ruapehu. The guest rooms measure 37 square metres, including bathroom amenities.

Chalet Eiger is being marketed for sale by Bayleys Taupo through sales person Kim Maitland, who said the lodge would suit a couple wanting a ‘lifestyle business’ with potential to grow revenues by operating a year-round accommodation entity.

“Chalet Eiger currently runs from November until April, and over the past three financial years has been generating sales of between $51,000 - $58,000. Prior to the global financial crises the business was turning over significantly higher revenues,” Ms Maitland said.

“The current owner/operators spend much of the New Zealand winter living abroad, so the potential for any new owner would be to expand the trading season from six moths to 12.”

The property has average guest stays of two nights, and accommodation supply contracts with in-bound tour operators including ATS, AOT, Aroha Tours, Best of NZ Fly Fishing, Magnetic South, and Fine Tours NZ.

Customer demographics for the lodge are largely international free independent travelers – with 35 percent coming from the UK and Europe, 25 percent of guests coming from North America, 20 percent emanating from Australia, 10 percent domestic tourists, and 10 percent from Asia. The lodge also hosts small corporate on-site meetings and incentive functions linked to the accommodation amenities.

In addition to Qualmark affiliation, Chalet Eiger has been a member of the Tourism Association of New Zealand, a member of the gourmet food organisation New Zealand Slow Food Movement, and a member of the tourism environmental sustainability group Green Globe. The lodge has its own waste-water treatment plant and can draw fresh water from either the town-supply or from a rainwater collection pipe network fed from the roof.

The grounds at Chalet Eiger contain a selection of vegetable and herb gardens, productive fruit and nut trees, and a selection of. Trading accounts show that 70 percent of guests have dinner at the lodge, at an additional cost, rather than heading into town. All rooms within the lodge have heat pumps installed, with water heated by four gas burners.

Ms Maitland said that during the six-month operating season, Chalet Eiger employed two full-time staff for the day to day running of the guest services, as well as two part-time staff to assist with housekeeping duties. The lodge building also encompassed a separate owner/manager’s wing comprising of a double bedroom, bathroom, living room and laundry.

The Ministry of Economic Development’s latest regional tourism paper for Lake Taupo forecasts a positive growth phase for the area over the medium term – with international ‘visitor nights’ predicted to grow 21.2 percent between 2009 and 2016. Concurrent with that, the report predicts that international visitor spend will escalate by 30.3 percent over the same period.

Ms Maitland said that with a strong marketing presence and a well-defined target audience, Chalet Eiger was ideally placed to capitalise on the forecast upswing in international visitor numbers.

“Taupo is renowned for having a prevalence of high-end international visitors – which is why the area has developed so many boutique luxury lodges, including as Chalet Eiger. This conglomeration of lodges has enhanced the region’s reputation and acted as a magnet for this sector,” she said.

“Per capita of population, Taupo ranks alongside Queenstown and Rotorua as the leading towns in New Zealand offering boutique luxury accommodation. The growth in that sector has been organic, and Chalet Eiger has been part of instigating that growth.

“The strength of Taupo as a high-end tourist destination is its variety of attractions and activities. While these were first founded on the likes of trout fishing and geothermal sight-seeing, there is now a far broader spectrum – encompassing golf, hunting, and most recently... the Tongariro Crossing.”

ENDS

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