Iconic heritage-listed Cardrona Hotel goes on the market
Photo:
Supplied to RNZ
One of the country's most photographed pubs - and a fixture of the Central Otago landscape - is going on the market.
Expressions of interest open on Friday for the 162-year-old, heritage-listed Cardrona Hotel.
Cade Thornton, who has owned the pub with his partner Alexis and James and Fleur Jenneson since 2013, said the decision to sell was indescribably difficult.
The group decided it was time to step back and focus on their young families, he said.
"It's just such a friendly, happy place. It's a great environment to work and to be the custodian, the captain of that, is tremendously rewarding, and to see the place change in our time. It's defined my life, really."
The hotel on the Crown Range Road between Wānaka and Queenstown included a restaurant, year-round beer garden, and 17 ensuite hotel rooms sleeping up to 44 guests.
Its facade dated back to a now-vanished gold rush town that thrived in the 1860s, when Cardrona was a bustling settlement supporting thousands of Otago gold rush miners.
Cade Thornton said it employed 40-50 staff, and the hotel was often fully booked.
"The business is in really good stead. I've got some very long-term senior staff who love the pub and their jobs and their roles, and they want to see it through with the new owner," he said.
He said the hotel attracted people from all walks of life.
"We'll have guests arriving by helicopter, all dressed up for a nice meal, and then the local farmers will come in, leaving their gumboots by the door. I don't think there's any other place quite like it in New Zealand."
The hotel on the Crown Range Road between Wānaka and Queenstown included a restaurant, year-round beer garden, and 17 ensuite hotel rooms sleeping up to 44 guests.
Photo:
Supplied to RNZ
The Cardrona Hotel was being sold by private negotiation as a freehold going concern.
Thornton said the owners would not be publicly disclosing a price, although in 2010, prior to expansion works, it was valued at $3 - 4 million.
He hoped the next owner would have a "real passion" for the pub.
"Fifty percent of buying it would be that you'd have to love it. You couldn't just look at it as a business opportunity. You'd have to be passionate about the business, the pub, its history, its potential," he said.
"If someone's wanting it, who's got the means and the drive, I don't think they'd ever regret it," he said.
Expressions of interest were open from Friday, 5 July until Friday, 15 August.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Techday NZ
2 hours ago
- Techday NZ
Milford enhances research with Bloomberg RMS Enterprise adoption
Milford, the New Zealand-based specialist investment firm, has adopted Bloomberg's enterprise-level Research Management Solutions (RMS Enterprise) to improve research production and workflows. The move expands Milford's utilisation of Bloomberg's suite of buy-side solutions, aimed at streamlining processes across the entire investment cycle. With RMS Enterprise in place, Milford intends to enhance automation in its research operations, facilitate efficient sharing of insights among teams, and simplify sustainable investment research efforts. Through RMS Enterprise, Milford will combine market data with internal information across various asset classes, increasing transparency and efficiency within its investment process. The solution enables the research team to generate content using both structured and unstructured data, while also supporting research analytics and the deployment of scoring models. Milford already utilises Bloomberg's PORT Enterprise for portfolio and risk analytics, which offers advanced risk and return attribution models. By integrating RMS Enterprise and PORT Enterprise, Milford can automate the creation of analyst model portfolios—improving oversight by analysts and enhancing the evaluation of research ideas. Integrated workflows The adoption of RMS Enterprise will benefit Milford's broader investment team by integrating with other Bloomberg Terminal workflows. Team members will be able to access and discover relevant research content more easily using Bloomberg's search and analytical tools. RMS Enterprise also features a comprehensive administration suite that supports collaboration across the organisation and can be configured to integrate with proprietary in-house systems where required. "We are pleased to adopt Bloomberg's Research Management Solutions to enhance our research capabilities. The smooth and easy integration with both the Bloomberg Terminal and our existing technology solutions enables us to streamline our processes and efficiently share and manage research across teams." Wayne Gentle, Chief Investment Officer and Executive Director at Milford, provided this comment regarding the adoption of Bloomberg's RMS Enterprise. Vendor perspective "As the macro-economic environment remains unpredictable and drives further market volatility, today's leading buy-side firms rely on the efficient use of first-class research to generate alpha. We are delighted to provide Research Management Solutions to Milford to streamline and enhance their investment cycle and workflows so they can continue to deliver actionable insights to their end investors." Ben Pool, Sales Manager for New Zealand and Australia at Bloomberg, outlined the value the firm sees in supplying research solutions to Milford under current economic conditions. Research capabilities Bloomberg's research offerings aim to transform investment research and analysis processes for clients by providing access to consistent, high-quality data and analytics, both from Bloomberg and other content partners. Its solutions can be implemented across individual desktops or enterprise-wide to help optimise research production and facilitate distribution of insights within organisations and to counterparties. PORT Enterprise, Bloomberg's premium offering currently used by Milford, is employed by more than 750 clients. It provides sophisticated portfolio risk and return attribution capabilities, including enhanced customisation and batch reporting. Clients also have access to Bloomberg's Multi-Asset Class (MAC3) fundamental risk factor models, which feature advanced risk forecasting tools such as Tracking Error volatility, Value-at-Risk (VAR), and scenario analysis. Both RMS Enterprise and PORT Enterprise are components of Bloomberg's integrated buy-side solutions, which are designed to offer technological support throughout the front-to-back investment lifecycle. Milford manages over NZD $27 billion in funds across New Zealand and Australia and serves over 150,000 direct investors and financial advisers across the two countries. The company has historically emphasised active fund management, employee ownership, and investing alongside its clients.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Agrecovery: Rural recycling on the rise
rural farming about 1 hour ago Agrecovery's seen huge growth in the 20 years it's been operating, with those in the primary sector looking for new ways to recycle on-farm plastic. "We know the farmers and growers are wanting solutions
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Prime Minister's office only given hour's notice before Winston Peters' speech dismissing 'trade war'
Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Prime Minister's office was only given an hour's notice of the contents of a speech by the Foreign Affairs minister, in which Winston Peters criticised the language used by politicians regarding a "trade war." While Peters did not name Christopher Luxon in his speech, it was seen as a veiled swing at a series of phone calls the Prime Minister made to other world leaders over US tariffs , and the lack of notice he had been given ahead of a Foreign Policy speech by the Prime Minister a few days earlier. Correspondence first obtained by Newsroom and also released to RNZ show the communications Peters' office had with officials ahead of the speech in Hawai'i, and the notice it gave the Prime Minister's office. On 10 April, the Prime Minister delivered a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, in which he said free trade was "worth fighting for" and raised the idea of CPTPP and European Union nations working together to champion rules-based trade. He also announced his intention to speak to other world leaders about trade, amid the tariffs which had then-recently been announced by US President Donald Trump. The same afternoon, Peters told reporters at Parliament such remarks were "all very premature," and confirmed the Prime Minister had not discussed with him the idea of getting CPTPP and EU nations together. A day later, Peters was in Tonga, and during a press conference advised politicians to "tone down" and wait for the dust to settle. "Markets lose their nerve. Share market speculators lose their nerve. Politicians should not lose their nerve." He also said the Prime Minister should consult with him. "He didn't check it out when he made that speech and made those phone calls. And so I hope that he'll get my message and he'll call me next time." From there, Peters was off to Hawai'i, and delivered a speech in Honolulu. He told a gathering at the East-West Centre the "tendency to hype up a debate about how international trade works into a black-and-white, polarising issue has been unfortunate and misguided" and criticised "military language" like "trade war" and the "need to fight." Peters said such language "has at times come across as hysterical and short-sighted." WhatsApp messages show Peters' senior foreign affairs adviser Michael Appleton informed staff in the Prime Minister and Trade Minister's offices about the quote Peters had given reporters at Parliament about the Prime Minister's idea to get the CPTPP and EU together to talk trade being "premature", as well as the responses he gave reporters in Tonga about the tariff approach. On 12 April, he also gave the group a heads up that Peters would be giving a speech in Honolulu, and that they would get an advance copy once it was finalised. In a separate WhatsApp group with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, Appleton informed them Peters had "decided" to "deliver brief (5-10 minute) remarks" about the US/NZ relationship in Hawai'i. Appleton said he would work on a draft on the six-hour flight to Honolulu, using the "existing briefing/comms pack" and Peters' instructions as a guide. "But warning you I'll want some reactions to a draft text later today once we have arrived in Honolulu," he said. The responses to Appleton's message were redacted. Via email, Appleton informed senior diplomats and officials of Peters' intention to deliver the speech on US/NZ relations, and sent them a draft. "It has been written to his instructions, and he has signed it off (subject to same [sic] final tweaking tonight). So the scope for further edits is limited." The recipients included the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Bede Corry, the US Ambassador Rosemary Banks, MFAT's deputy secretary for trade and economic Vangelis Vitalis, its deputy secretary for the Asias and America Grahame Morton, Americas divisional manager James Waite, and Pacific divisional manager Sarah Lee. Appleton told the group Peters' office would alert the Prime Minister, the Trade Minister, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet "to the fact of this speech, and then provide an advance copy one MFA has finished his tweaking. "So no need for you to do any coordination on that front." The advance copy was sent to the offices via WhatsApp an hour before Peters delivered the speech. Following the speech, Luxon said coverage had been a "media beat-up" and insisted that he and Peters were actually on the same page. "We both agree that tariffs and trade wars are bad. We both think cool, calm and collected approaches are what is needed from ourselves and from our partners. We'll continue to build out our US relationship, and we're strengthening our bilateral ones," he told Morning Report . "So from our side, whether it's Winston and I, whether it's the five ministers dealing with it, and frankly, our whole cabinet, we're very aligned on our approach." Asked on Friday about the released of the communications and the notice his office was given, Luxon told reporters he had said all he wanted to say on the matter. "I've spoken about that ages ago, I've got nothing further to say about it. As you know, we're just making sure we're upholding the rules-based trading system." Peters' office did not wish to comment further. "We have nothing to add on this issue, which was well traversed at the time." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
