In 1972, John Blair was working in Christchurch for his uncle’s architectural firm when he took a phone call that would change his career path.
Out of the blue, doyen Sir Miles Warren, of Warren & Mahoney, invited John over for a whisky.
"He said, ‘I’m headhunting you, we have got a project we have to provide on-site architecture for during the whole building process.
"‘It’s a new hotel and it’s a Travelodge and we’ll set you up in Queenstown.
"‘You’ll be a partner of our firm, and name your price."’
John, who originally commuted here, recalls how the hotel’s Australian owners had chosen their central site.
He says they walked down Beach St and, on finding a motel across the road from the Earnslaw steamer wharf, decided "this is as far as our guests will want to walk from central Queenstown", so bought the property.
John’s brief was to be on-site every day during Fletchers’ two-year build.
"You became very immersed in the whole process, and if the builder had a problem he came to the site architect and the site architect solved it immediately."
The seven-level building was Queenstown’s largest at the time, and also New Zealand’s biggest concrete block building.
"He used to sit there with his binoculars, and he had to be able to see the funnel of the Earnslaw."
To conform, John had the smart idea of removing from the design some blocks at the Lake St and Shotover St ends.
"I managed to do this on-site without the approval of my principal, and fortunately when it came to the finish they jumped in, ‘Oh, John, I like the little subtraction you made there’."
John says the walls were cantilevered out of the ground level to give the hotel structural integrity, while the concrete blocks were also stretched beyond their normal capacity.
He recalls the build came in at just $2.29million — by comparison, Christchurch property investor Philip Carter spent $14m alone on refurbing and strengthening the hotel after buying it in 2007.
John’s proud the hotel has stood the test of time, with the only exterior changes being rebrandings from Travelodge to Parkroyal and then to Crowne Plaza.
It was also special for him as "it was why I came here".
Sir Miles Warren himself bought him a McEntyre’s Hill house, near Arrowtown, which he paid him back for, and John subsequently went out on his own, establishing himself as one of NZ’s foremost architects.
Near the end of his 54-year career he designed the 57-room Mi-pad Queenstown, which again cost far more to build than the Travelodge.
"I’ve got the [then] biggest hotel and the smallest hotel in Queenstown."
‘Have to close the curtains unfortunately’
Stewart Manson, Crowne Plaza’s GM for five years, has a unique relationship with the hotel.
"I said I’d only come back to Queenstown if I was to general manage this hotel, because it’s such an iconic property."
Manson believes nothing else matches it due to its proximity to the CBD and views.
When he hosts third-floor conference groups, "half the battle is keeping people focused because they look out at the Remarkables and you have to close the curtains on the view, unfortunately".
He’s proud of his 80-strong team’s service levels and happy with hotel occupancy.
"Like, this winter where it’s been quite tough around town, we’ve had really good results."
Owner Philip Carter says he bought the property, including three adjacent staff houses, because "it ticked all our boxes for a good investment".
"Because of its location the hotel attracts visitors all year round.
"It has and is performing very well."
