Where to stay in Queenstown: Holiday Inn Frankton Road

Home to an abundance of epic adventure activities, impressive snow fields and fantastic foodie finds, Queenstown is a must-visit destination for travellers. With so much to see, do and eat it’s important to find the right accommodation for your itinerary. If you’re after a comfortable and well-priced spot to stay with a great location and awesome views, we’ve got just the spot. To help #TravelWell in New Zealand here’s a look at Holiday Inn Queenstown Frankton Road.

See more of the accommodation in our video guide to Queenstown here:

Where is the hotel located?

You’ll find the hotel located on a hillside, along Frankton Road. If you’re familiar with Queenstown, you’ll know it as the main stretch of road winding into Queenstown. It’s incredibly picturesque, overlooking Lake Wakatipu‘s Frankton Arm inlet.

The hotel’s location was very convenient for us, allowing easy access to Coronet Peak and the Remarkables on snow days and a short 10-minute drive into downtown Queenstown for food, sightseeing and activities. Given its location outside of the popular downtown area, the hotel has more space which allows it to offer free on-site parking. Perfect for anyone on a road trip! It’s also a short 7-minute drive to the airport when it comes time to leave.

How to get to Queenstown

Located on the picturesque shores of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand’s spectacular South Island, Queenstown is a must-visit destination for visitors. Set against the dramatic Southern Alps, you could easily fly into Queenstown Airport or you may like to add Queenstown to a larger road trip itinerary. We’ve done this a few different ways, including flying into Auckland and making our way down from the North Island and flying into Christchurch on the South Island and making our way down from there.

Most recently, we included Queenstown in a 3 1/2 week long road trip through the north and south islands. We visited Auckland, the Coromandel, the coastal Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taup? and Napier with a plan to visit Wellington. Sadly, we had to cut our Wellington visit from our itinerary due to a change in local restrictions. We caught the ferry from Wellington to Picton then onto Christchurch, Tekapo and Aoraki, Wanaka and Queenstown.

If you’re on a road trip and plan to catch the ferry across the Cook Strait to the south island you must read our guide: How to catch the ferry from Wellington to Picton.

Pro Tip: Thinking of doing a motorhome road trip? We’ve got a wealth of written guides and video guides to help you plan your perfect trip!

What are the rooms like?

We stayed in room 506, a Lakeview Double Room located on the ground floor. Rather than being a multi-storey high-rise, the hotel is spread out in a number of long, rectangular low-rise buildings with only two floors. This means you can move about easily and quickly with no pesky elevator queues or huge flights of stairs. We were able to drive up to our door, drop our bags off and leave quickly when it was time to head out.

While we didn’t plan to have a double room with two queen size beds, it actually worked out great! We had been on the road for 3 1/2 weeks and enjoyed being able to spread right out in our bed for the two nights. The beds were very comfortable with good, cosy pillows and warm bedding as well as an electric blanket and air conditioning to keep us toasty on those cold winter nights.

The en-suite is a good size, making use of the space well with a walk-in shower and good water pressure. The basin and mirror were a good size for two people, decked out with a hairdryer and a seperate closet space outside the bathroom for storage and hanging clothes and coats.

A small bar space provided a mini-fridge for us to keep snacks (100 bars of Whitaker’s chocolate), milk and other essentials while the tea and coffee making facilities were perfect for whipping up an afternoon cuppa. Next to the bar space, a desk and chair provided additional storage space and a spot to sit and catch up on emails or put on makeup.

We enjoyed cosying up in bed after a big day, watching movies on the flat-screen TV and enjoying the views from our room. The lake and southern alps provide the most beautiful backdrop with a private patio area set-up with a table and chairs making for the ideal spot to sit and unwind. Having this type of view is another bonus of the hotel’s location along Frankton Road, as opposed to the downtown area.

What facilities does the hotel have?

Holiday Inn Queenstown offers a number of additional facilities including free parking, a 24-hour reception and free wifi! It’s good quality wifi too, trust me. There are bicycle for hire, if you want to explore on two wheels and a guest laundry with washer and dryer so you can stay on top of those dirty cloths, something we definitely needed on our long road trip. Guests can also enjoy the spa and sauna as part of their stay.

The bar and restaurant offer fantastic views over Lake Wakatipu, serving a buffet breakfast in the mornings, room service throughout the day as well as dinner and bar snacks. The dinner menu features crowd favourites like lamb shank rogan josh, lemongrass and garlic baked salmon and a grilled ribeye steak.

Best things to do in Queenstown

You could easily spend two weeks in Queenstown and not run out of things to do. If you’re only visiting for a few days, like we did, you’ll have a tough time deciding just what to add to your itinerary and what to leave off. Don’t worry, you can always come back!

Queenstown offers a range of fantastic day trips, adrenaline-pumping outdoor activities, stunning scenery and gorgeous lookouts, world-class restaurants, bars, cafes and so much more.  I recommend you watch our YouTube video guide at the top of this post and on the Little Grey Box YouTube channel to see our itinerary unfold. You can also read all about it and find more information and inspiration on Wanaka and the best things to do, here: Your Ultimate Guide to Queenstown.

The Verdict…

If you’ve ever been to Queenstown or researched accommodation, you’ll know it’s a notoriously pricey destination. Holiday Inn Queenstown offers a comfortable stay at a good price! To put it into perspective, a private room with a shared bathroom at a decent backpackers will cost around NZD$90 per night. You can stay in an actual hotel room at Holiday Inn for NZD$149 per night!

As someone who has done both and stayed at some questionable hotels and very luxurious hotels around Queenstown, I think Holiday Inn is good value for money. The hotel is in a great location and offers comfortable, clean and cosy accommodation at a good price. We enjoyed our stay and found it a really easy and convenient place to stay.

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Our two-night stay was generously hosted by Holiday Inn Queenstown Frankton Road. All opinions are, as always, authentically our own. 

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