The official opening on Thursday night of the Hilton Queenstown and the Kawarau Hotel, managed by Hilton, was the realisation of a long-term goal for Hilton Worldwide - a company that will not rule out a Hilton Dunedin.
It has taken more than five years for Hilton Worldwide to get into the resort, a place Hilton Australasia vice-president Ashley Spencer said was "strategically, really important".
Developer Dan McEwan obtained Environment Court consent to construct a 106-room Hilton on the site behind his Pounamu Apartments development, above Frankton Rd, in 2008, 26 months after a resource consent application was filed.
Mr Spencer said the hotel chain was in discussions for "quite some time", working through issues with residents and neighbours when "the developer fell over".
Hilton went back to the drawing board and when Melview Developments also "fell over" in 2009, the company swooped on the Kawarau Falls development.
"The last three to four years have been incredibly difficult for anybody developing real estate, particularly in New Zealand, [but] any timing is good timing in terms of wanting to come here," Mr Spencer said.
"We had been after a place in Queenstown for as long as I've been around, and that's five years.
"It's really important for us to be here... to put a circuit of hotels together to sell to the European market: arrive in Auckland, go to Taupo ... and Queenstown. Strategically, it was a big deal."
Mr Spencer said Hilton had also been open about wanting a presence in Dunedin. The company had had a contract on the former Dunedin Chief Post Office building, which would have made a "nice boutique Hilton", but history continued to repeat and "the developer fell over".
Mr McEwan bought the building in 2006 for $7 million, but it was later sold in a mortgagee sale and bought by Distinction Hotels group in May last year.
While the option of the post office, "a lovely building", was off the table, Mr Spencer said the company still had an eye on Dunedin.
"Opportunities that might come our way we'll have a look at."
The company was also keen to establish hotels in Wellington and Christchurch.
"We're in the business for the long [haul]; we're not a flash in the pan ... We can see through the swings and roundabouts and there are bound to be opportunities.
"We want to grow that network effectively across New Zealand and we will do that."
The 178-room Hilton Queenstown and 98-room Kawarau Hotel managed by Hilton are the third and fourth Hilton hotels in New Zealand and, while the foundations for the hotels were already in place when Hilton came along, Mr Spencer said he was pleased with the end product.
"I'm not just happy with it, I'm delighted.
"From a product point of view, it's seriously up there.
"It is without question the best hotel in Queenstown; probably one of the best in New Zealand."
Mr Spencer said the reaction from the local community since the Hilton opened its doors to the public on May 19 had been "fabulous".
"The locals have just embraced it."
The Hilton had been providing positive spin-offs to many other businesses since it opened. Some businesses, such as Brown's Ski Shop, leased space within the hotel to expand their own operations, while others had seen the opportunities available and capitalised.
"The water taxi, as an example.
The guy is going to have to get a bigger boat.
"It's a good example of how something like this can benefit a lot of people."
While many had questioned whether Kelvin Heights was the appropriate site for the hotel, Mr Spencer said critics had been silenced.
The hotel received all-day sun, a water-taxi trip from the Hilton to Queenstown took about five minutes, and the opening of a deli yesterday added to the attractions for locals which included the Wakatipu Grill, Stacks Pub, an Asian restaurant, a day spa, a hairdresser which should be open within "weeks", and other retail outlets within the complex.
"It's become a destination in its own right."
The hotel had 135 people on its staff at the moment, which would increase to 185 during peak season, and 90% of those were from the local community.
While occupancy was still low, due to "starting from zero", Mr Spencer was confident "exponential growth" would occur in the coming months.
