First day draws overseas interest
A luxury boutique hotel nestled in the Waitakere Ranges and founded by the man who established Air New Zealand received interest from foreign buyers less than a day since it was listed for sale.
Waitakere Estate was developed in the late 1940s by a former airline pilot captain, Joseph Nevill-Jackson, who had previously been commissioned by the New Zealand Government to set up what went on to become Air New Zealand.
Real estate agent Carolyn Hanson said the property had received interest from buyers in Singapore, China and Canada.
The price was she said.
The hotel and conference venue complex sprawls across 28.7 hectares along a hilltop ridgeline and has its own chapel. open to negotiation,
The hotel is located within the protected Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area and surrounded by the regional mountain park, which contains some 16,000ha of protected native forests and numerous walking tracks leading to beaches, waterfalls and picnic areas.
It has a mix of bedrooms with ensuites, apartments and a guest house. Last year the property got an upgrade with a new gym, sauna and spa as well as a three-storey building hosting more accommodation.
Hanson said the growing popularity of eco-tourism made the hotel ideal to be rebranded as an ecolodge.
Waitakere Estate had also been granted resource consent for the addition of a second major accommodation wing.