But yesterday, The World Bar was engulfed in the biggest fire the resort has seen in at least six years.
Flames and thick clouds of yellow-tinged grey and black smoke billowed from the building which houses the bar, visited by backpackers from around the world. .
Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, and other police assisted fire crews and directed pedestrians and traffic yesterday.
It was the most fully involved fire he had encountered in his 12 years with the force, he said.
Sgt Watt confirmed a story about the cause of the blaze doing the rounds among residents and visitors who gathered at either end of the cordoned off Shotover St and craned their necks or hoisted their mobile devices for a glimpse of the action.
''At approximately 3.30pm, it's believed a fire developed in the Fat Badgers premises in the kitchen area,'' Sgt Watt said.
''This enveloped into a large-scale blaze at which point the Fire Service was called. They called in resources from around the district, including a command centre from Alexandra.''
Neighbouring businesses on both sides of the street were evacuated for safety reasons.
One business immediately outside the cordon was the i-Site Queenstown Visitor Centre. Its unflappable staff continued to deal with a constant stream of visitor inquiries throughout the emergency.
Fat Badgers Pizza staff had posted on social media on Wednesday the comment: ''Our brand new super oven had a bit of a tantrum at cooking so many pizzas and will be out of commission until our new parts get here at the weekend.''
Sgt Watt deferred to fire investigators when asked if the oven was the cause of the fire.
Eye witness Robert Wells, of Queenstown, said he was at home on Ballarat St when he heard the fire siren - twice - and thought something serious had happened.
''I looked out and saw the smoke and took a photo and put it on Facebook and I've been down here ever since.
''I heard crashing inside, glass breaking, kind of like wood hitting the floor and glass inside smashing.''
Queenstown resident Jill Derbie said she heard ''booms'' from inside the stricken building.
''It looked like the fire was really going to spread. Black smoke and then even blacker.
''I've never seen anything like it in Queenstown before.''
Queenstown mother Nicky Thompson said most of her children's classmates had gone home from St Joseph's School, high on Queenstown Hill and overlooking the scene, when the fire broke out.
''I saw the smoke and thought that's not the [steam ship] Earnslaw, that's too much.
''It's quite sad.''
Catherine Mackey, an American living in Queenstown, favourably compared Southern firefighters to their paid counterparts she had seen tackling fires in her home country.
''It's impressive to see these people turn out on a volunteer basis,'' she said.
