Kevin Peeris, the hotel’s VP of commercial for the Chateau’s Singapore-based parent company Bayview International, said it was a “very sad day”.
Peeris said that the decision had been made for the safety of the hotel’s guests and employees. There are 36 staff employed by the hotel in the National Park.
“The hotel has been given 25 years with the possibility of an extension of another 10 years to undertake rectification works, however the cost involved in these works, combined with other external factors such as the voluntary administration of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts and the poor snow season, and rebounding tourist numbers from the pandemic means continuing operations is not financially viable.”
Peeris did not give any estimates on what rectifying works could cost for potential new owners.
The Chateau will be handed over to the Department of Conservation, with which the historic hotel operates as a concessionary.
The hotel failed to negotiate a renewal of its 30-year lease from the Department of Conservation, which expired in April 2020.
In October the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it had an ongoing investigation into the hotel’s “employment standards” and alleged staff abuses.
New Zealand’s grand hotel
Built in 1929 the Grand Chateau is no stranger to financial hardship.
The elegant 90-room palace went into government ownership after the Great Depression. Despite brief stints as a hospital and even an asylum, it remained New Zealand’s publicly run hotel and boomed with the uptake of ski holidays on the Whakapapa snowfields.
In 1990 it was sold into private ownership.
Following hardships and the pandemic downturn of international tourism it was briefly suggested that the Chateau be bought by the government again by Tourism New Zealand. This did not happen.
The Heritage New Zealand Category 1 building now has 25 years to find owners willing to undertake seismic restoration works.
