Hilton plans two hotels in South Island

Hilton Auckland general manager John Ingram confirmed yesterday that the group was looking to run hotels in the South Island centres but cautioned it would be years before a Hilton hotel opened in either.

Mr Ingram said it took Hilton, which would manage, not own the hotels, a decade to find the right property and the right deal in Auckland, where its 166-room hotel is situated on a wharf.

The group would be looking for similarly special properties in Christchurch and Queenstown to fit the "deluxe" four to five-star standard.

"Obviously whatever we do in New Zealand will definitely be in keeping with that positioning."

Mr Ingram said any hotel built in the South Island would be boutique style - with about 150 rooms - and would cost about $300,000 per room to build.

Read More - Opens in a new window