The sales grounds at Karaka may be a mystery to most outside the racing industry but that is about to change.
New Zealand Bloodstock is weeks away from opening a hotel on the northern corner of the sales facility, with the business to be managed by DoubleTree by Hilton.
The122-room hotel cost $40 million to build and will provide luxury accommodation close to the airport, the motorways south and for those whose business in Auckland may be in that area or prefer to not stay in the city.
"It has been a huge undertaking and we are incredibly excited to have it opening on March 28," says NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook.
"It is a unique hotel experience being on a world-class sale ground and of course the two will have very little crossover because we only sell horses for about two weeks a year."
But those two weeks will see the hotel crammed because it will be the perfect place for overseas or visiting domestic buyers to base themselves for the sales.
The hotel will create 60 new fulltime jobs and former O'Connell Street Bistro chef Mark Southon will be heading its restaurant.
