Queenstown, andwhat it is near.
Ten minutes from the centre of Queenstown, twenty from the airport, and far enough up Summit Lane that the last of the drive is forest and nothing else.
4
Guests, two bedrooms
0%
Booking fee, direct
10 min
From central Queenstown
Why the house is like this.
I was an accountant in Belgium before I changed my life for cuisine. I cooked in Michelin-star restaurants at home and on three luxury cruise lines around the world, came to New Zealand in 1994 and could not get it out of my head, and finally moved here in 2009. Since then I have opened Belgian beer cafes in Auckland and Christchurch and cooked at two of this country’s best lodges, Matakauri and Blanket Bay.
Luc 22 is all of that in one house: the travelling, the collecting and the cooking. I take one booking at a time, I answer the phone myself, and I would rather you booked with me than paid somebody else fifteen percent to stand in between.
Luc, Owner and chef
A day here, honestly.
7.30
Breakfast in the dining room while the light comes down the lake. It is included, and it is cooked, not laid out in a basket.
9.30
Out with Wildlight Safaris if you have booked them: a guided walk up Mt Alfred at Glenorchy, or the boat across to Pigeon Island.
12.30
Ten minutes back into Queenstown for lunch, or stay put with a book on the deck. Most people mean to go in and do not.
15.00
The waterfront walk at Wilson Bay and Bob’s Cove, straight below the house.
17.30
Fire on. The lake goes gold, then the tops go pink, then it is very dark and very quiet up here.
19.30
Three courses in your own dining room, built around whatever is in season and whatever you told Luc you love.
Things worth knowing first.
Getting here
A ten-minute drive from the centre of Queenstown. Take the road towards Glenorchy, right on Moke Lake Road, right on Alpine Retreat Road, right on Summit Lane. The last stretch is unlit and through forest, so arrive in daylight the first time.
What is below you
The house sits at the base of Ben Lomond looking over Wilson Bay and Bob’s Cove, with Cecil and Walter Peak across the water. The lake walks start at the bottom of the hill rather than in town.
Eating
You do not have to go anywhere. Breakfast is included and dinner is cooked here by a chef who has run luxury lodge kitchens. Queenstown’s restaurants are ten minutes away when you want them.
A REAL HOUSE. AN UNOFFICIAL WEBSITE EXAMPLE.
The guest is yours. The stay is yours. The money should be too.
Every night you sell through a listing site, somebody who has never seen your place takes a slice of it. A site like this one is simply yours. Guests find it, they book on it, and the whole payment lands with you.
If you own a bach, a lodge or a holiday home, send me a message and tell me about it. I’ll tell you what I’d build and what it would cost, and it costs nothing to ask.