The 'beyond five-star' Queenstown hotel where the toilet can give you a massage
When Kevin Carlin first came to Queenstown he was advised to park his BMW in a shed and drive a ute around town.
“I was told to not be too flash, as people in New Zealand call it.”
More than 30 years after moving from the United States to the country he chose for its lifestyle and security, he has opened one of the flashiest hotels ever built in Queenstown.
The “more than five-star” 14-suite Carlin Boutique Hotel stretches seven stories above the central town.
Each of the interconnected suites has its own outdoor fire and spa pool, and a kitchen where private chefs can whip up a meal.
“We don’t expect our guests are ever going to buy eggs and cook,” Carlin said.
The toilets have remote controls that do everything from lift the seat to provide a massage.
The walls are marble and oak, the waste baskets and tissue holders are leather and embossed with the newly-developed Carlin crest.
If you are unfortunate enough to have one of the few bedrooms without a view over Queenstown, you will instead have a 65-inch television linked to a rooftop camera that provides a live feed of the outlook.
Guests who walk into central Queenstown but want a lift uphill home can choose to be picked up in a Bentley, Porsche or Maserati – or grab an e-bike from the available fleet.
A night in a one-bedroom suite starts at $1750 plus GST, while the three-storey penthouse goes for about $25,000 a night for seven bedrooms, seven-and-a-half bathrooms, four spas, four backyards and four lounge rooms over about 510 square metres.
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
-
37.3% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
-
62.7% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
Loading…
