Glamping business wins top travel award

Valley Views Glamping owners Patrick and Amber Tyrrell  with their dog Jock in front of one of...
Valley Views Glamping owners Patrick and Amber Tyrrell with their dog Jock in front of one of their luxurious accommodation domes. PHOTO: JULES CHIN
Valley Views Glamping in Otiake is the place to be for a glamp.

The camping ground has been named the 2024 Glamping Destination Continent Winner for Australia and Oceania.

The luxury accommodation offers geodesic domes in an off-grid, eco-friendly environment with breath-taking views over the Waitaki Valley.

It was chosen from a "large" range of accommodation offers by the World Luxury Travel Awards.

The travel awards are voted on by guests, travellers and the travel industry for select categories.

Owners Amber and Patrick Tyrrell were "absolutely thrilled" to win best glamping destination, after initially declining to enter the awards.

"We’re pretty stoked. We weren’t going to enter it, and one of the ladies that works for World Luxury Travel Awards, she contacted me and asked me to enter it ... She was very persistent and we ended up winning it, which was amazing," Mrs Tyrrell said.

The luxury accommodation destination in the relatively remote Waitaki Valley has attracted 13,000 people from all over the world in just seven years.

The business also won the Best Hospitality/Tourism Business at the 2022 Waitaki Business Awards and was a 2024 Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards winner.

Mrs Tyrrell said their success, in part, had come from "word of mouth" and good reviews.

"It’s really that human connection that people really appreciate. We meet everyone that comes here, and check them in and chat to people, and yeah, it’s great."

When it came to "luxury camping" the service and connection were "everything" for the husband-and-wife team.

"We do our very best to give everyone an exceptional experience, and we’ve got great views here — people really love the space. The domes are really special, we believe," she said.