At the northern head of Lake Wakatipu, just past the small town of Glenorchy, Blanket Bay Lodge keeps the shore of Wyuna, a 60,000-acre high-country station at the foot of the Richardson Mountains. The Villa stands on the hill above the Lodge and its Chalets, its gabled pavilions of stone and timber turned west across the water to the Humboldt and Thomson ranges. Just up the road lies the quiet valley they call Paradise.
Inside are four King suites, each a private world of bedroom, sitting area and bathroom around its own stone fireplace, and between them the shared rooms of the house: a grand lounge beneath a vaulted timber ceiling, a bar, a long dining table and a full commercial kitchen. The house was drawn to follow the sun through the morning and the afternoon, and at every turn it opens onto terraces, courtyards, a fire pit and twin hot tubs on the lawn.
The rhythm is yours. A chef cooks in the Villa at any hour, from fresh produce of the region, for breakfast on the terrace or dinner under the stars. When you want company, the Lodge is a short walk or buggy ride down the hill: cocktails in the Den, five courses in the dining room, the spa and steam rooms, and the heated pool in summer. Beyond the lawns are jet boats on the Dart River, horses in the high country, helicopters bound for Milford Sound, and the trailheads of the Great Walks.
Your Exclusive Villa Collection advisor reserves the Villa directly with Blanket Bay, as two bedrooms or four, and shapes the week around who is coming, from the first drive up the lake to the morning you fly out of Queenstown.
