"We just lucked into something that really became a very happy and big part of our lives." My grandkids love them as well and actually are quite emotional about them," Robertson adds. My kids all love them, and Jay now manages the properties. "My wife always adored the country and these places. (This March, Robertson is offering what he calls the "Tiger Tour," a ten-day, $25,000, private jet jaunt through all three properties.)Īfter all, New Zealand has given him something irreplaceable. "I think it can be a real benefit to New Zealand that we can run a first-class business that fits into their way of life," says Robertson. And while Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers basically pay for themselves as working farms, and the appreciation on the land alone makes them solid investments, Matakauri actually turns a neat profit, thanks main ly to its proximity to Queenstown. Robertson takes pains to emphasize that his lodges aren't a lark: He runs them as a business. Then there's that astonishing view of the well-named Remarkable Mountains from every double-height window. The big draw is the location: It's on the shore of the alpine Lake Wakatipu, just a ten-minute drive from Queenstown's restaurants and activities (jet boats, paragliding, and the country's original bungee jump, as well as hiking and skiing), yet sequestered from the town's throngs of Australian revelers. Guest rooms incorporate niceties like heated floors and TVs smartly hidden behind black-and-white landscape photographs.
EMPIRE TALE PALETTE SANS FULL
It's both more intimate, with only 11 rooms around a compact main lodge on 15 acres, and bolder in design, with an orange-and-yellow palette, and full walls of aluminum and glass. Matakauri Lodge, just outside of the South Island adventure capital of Queenstown, takes the best of its big brothers and translates it to an overtly adrenaline-soaked environment. In late 2009, he bought the final piece (to date) in his New Zealand collection. Hawke's Bay also happens to be a prime location for winery tours (including Robertson's own Te Awa).īut Robertson's lodge-building days didn't end there.
Walking trails crisscross pastures, primordial forests, and a field with 6,000 lavender plants. Most of Cape Kidnappers' 24 guest rooms are in separate buildings and have gas fireplaces, wide verandas, and spectacular views of hills tumbling down to the Pacific. A silo houses a cozy lounge with window seats almost all the way around. Guests can commute to their rounds via helicopter.) The main lodge resembles an enormous barn, all tumbled river stone and weathered wood, wagon wheels and vintage farm implements, sheep photos, and cheerful art. (The Tom Doak course is still world-class but out of sight, down a hill from the main buildings. It reprises some of the Kauri Cliffs themes but tones down the golf a notch. The Farm at Cape Kidnappers took Robertson six years to fully build out and opened in 2007. "It was just such a magnificent property, I couldn't help it," he explains. Once Kauri Cliffs opened, Robertson was bitten by the bug: In 2001, he purchased another sheep farm-this one 6,000 acres-on stunning Hawke's Bay on the southeast coast of North Island. The par-72 course, designed by David Harman and resplendent with views of crashing waves on 15 holes, is ranked among the top courses in the world. Golf put Kauri Cliffs on the map, and while guests can hunt boar and scuba dive, it's still a golf resort at heart.
0 kommentar(er)
