logo
Keen interest in historic Cardrona Hotel

Keen interest in historic Cardrona Hotel

The Cardrona Hotel is for sale. Photo: ODT Files
With more than 90,000 views on Trade Me, the Cardrona Hotel is topping the property charts after its listing on July 3.
Nestled between Wānaka and Queenstown, the building has been standing proudly on the Crown Range Rd for over 160 years and has had 11 owners since its early beginnings.
The pub's owners — Cade and Alexis Thornton and James and Fleur Jenneson — have owned the historic establishment since 2013.
They have described the chance to buy it as a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity".
Trade Me property spokesperson Casey Wylde said the property had over 92,000 views and counting.
"The iconic property has clearly had a lot of Kiwi dreaming about a lifestyle change," she said.
"It's really no surprise this landmark of the South Island has been so popular."
She added the average asking price in the Wānaka district for residential properties was $1,629,000, and given the high interest in the hotel, it was likely to fetch much more than that.
The complex includes a bar and restaurant, 17 ensuite hotel rooms, a beer garden, a children's play area, a modern workshop, a retail gift shop, and car parking.
Based on the average number of views, Ms Wylde said the property was set to take out the top spot in the coming week.
The deadline for sale is August 15.
Mr and Ms Thorton published a statement on the hotel's Facebook page expressing their gratitude to the community and explaining it was time for them to focus on their family.
"The time is right for us to pass on the baton to new owners," the couple said in the statement.
"Our children are both excited about the prospect of having their dad around more."
It did not take long for the comment section to flood with words of encouragement from members of the community, staff, and friends.
The destination hotel has offered much more than accommodation with past visitors sharing their happy wedding memories in Cardrona.
The owners also clarified in the statement that the hotel was still operating as per usual with no changes being made to any future reservations already made.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Air New Zealand inks direct partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, pair create virtual customers
Air New Zealand inks direct partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, pair create virtual customers

NZ Herald

time2 hours ago

  • NZ Herald

Air New Zealand inks direct partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, pair create virtual customers

As well as being OpenAI CFO, Friar is a long-time member of the board of Walmart. Before returning home to run Air New Zealand, Foran was in charge of the giant retailer's US operation. There have been several meetings between senior Air New Zealand and Open AI senior leaders over the past year 'and they saw that Air New Zealand could well be the petri dish for innovation in the critical infrastructure and aviation game', Ravishankar said. The airline's use of OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence (AI) has run from the mainstream – summarising complicated documents – to creating the aforementioned virtual focus group. OpenAI's Sarah Friar overlapped with Air NZ CEO Greg Foran at Walmart. Photo / Getty Images 'Our customer service teams have created customer personas by feeding them all the feedback and complaints we've got – to test service improvements before we introduce them to a focus group,' Ravishankar said. Ideas could be 'pre-tested' on and honed on the virtual personas, which were based on hundreds of thousands of pieces of customer comments, helping to fine-tune ideas from a much broader pool of perspectives, before putting them before a human focus group. 'AI allows you to do complex, integrated planning much more seamlessly,' Ravishankar said. 'We're starting to look at how we use AI to optimise our loyalty tier benefits, for example, and how we can optimise turnaround to improve on-time performance management.' What about customer-facing AI? Air New Zealand was an early adopter of Soul Machines' avatar technology, before the Kiwi firm flamed out, but switched from the homegrown solution to its inhouse-developed chatbot 'Oscar'. Is Oscar about to get an an AI makeover? 'As are a lot of organisations, we're doing a ton of work on whether generative AI is ready for prime time; ready to directly interface with customers to provide an, if you will, chatbot on steroids. We're doing a lot of testing, but we're just not fully satisfied it's there yet,' Ravishankar said. 'But it's maturing at a rate of knots. I'm a technologist by trade, and I've never seen anything move as quickly.' Behind the scenes, staff are using AI to help deliver more personalised service to customers, he said. All up, the airline is using 1500 CustomGPTs to introduce efficiencies to internal workflows. CustomGPTs are set to specific tasks and can be ring-fenced to access a company's own data – addressing the dangers of an AI hallucinating or breaching privacy or commercial confidentiality. How do you market to an AI concierge? OpenAI recently released a ChatGPT 'agent' that can carry out autonomous tasks, such as booking travel (or 'looking' at a photo of a meal you like on Instagram, then ordering the ingredients for you from an online supermarket). The initial release was restricted to those on US$200 ($330) per month pro plans, but it's being rolled out this month to those on cheaper Plus plans too. So far, many early testers have found the ChatGPT agent slow and clumsy, in part because human approval is needed at various steps – including credit card purchases – so you can't walk away from your device. 'Uncharted territory' But while the ChatGPT agent might be a while off for OpenAI's free tier, pundits see 'agentic AI' as the next big thing – and it's already starting to figure in the airline's thinking. 'We're starting to wonder what the role of a brand is when ... a customer's own concierge [AI] agent is deciding which product to put in front of the customer,' Ravishankar said. 'That's uncharted territory ... if anyone tells us they know exactly how that's going to play out, they're making it up. 'But we're paying close attention to it, and then we're seeing multiple models emerge. 'It could be we provide an Air New Zealand concierge, or our concierge interacts with a customer's own concierge. Or we just make our environment open to customers' own agents, being able to interact with us. 'It's too soon to say what pattern emerges. If I was a betting man, I'd say we'll probably see multiple models.' Direct collaboration As part of the collaboration, Air New Zealand will gain early access to OpenAI technologies to develop and apply use cases, and equip its people across corporate roles with secure, enterprise-grade AI tools, Ravishankar said. 'By working directly with OpenAI, we not only access leading-edge technology but we also shape how it's used in the real world.' 'Air New Zealand is taking meaningful steps to bring AI across key parts of its business using OpenAI's technology. We have been particularly impressed with how quickly they have built over 1500 CustomGPTs to introduce efficiencies to internal workflows,' OpenAI international managing director Oliver Jay said. 'Their focus on innovation and responsibility shows how the aviation sector can adopt advanced tools in practical ways that deliver value for both employees and customers.' POSTSCRIPT: Captain's chair? Foran resigned as CEO in May. He will depart the airline in October. The Australian recently reported that Ravishankar has the inside running to replace him. The Herald asked Ravishankar if he wanted to take the opportunity to rule himself in or out. 'That is definitely above my pay grade, and you probably want to speak to the board about that,' he replied. There was no immediate response from the board. Boards typically don't comment on potential candidates prior to an executive appointment. Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.

Govt says controversial campaign 'a winner'
Govt says controversial campaign 'a winner'

Otago Daily Times

time2 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Govt says controversial campaign 'a winner'

Image: supplied The government is calling the controversial 'Everyone Must Go' campaign a winner for attracting Australian tourists to New Zealand shores. The campaign was ridiculed when it was launched. Media in the United States and United Kingdom called it tone-deaf, while opposition MPs said it made New Zealand sound like a clearance-sale item. But Tourism New Zealand stats show it delivered 7981 additional visitors between March and May. Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said that was more than 1000 additional visitors than expected. She described the campaign as a winner, aimed at grabbing people's attention - and it did. "We knew Aussies would recognise it as a great opportunity. Just like they grabbed Phar Lap and pavlova, it's proved the same story with 'Everyone Must Go'." The campaign targeted a $17 million spend boost, and the minister said it generated an estimated $22 million in incremental visitor spend. The industry had backed the campaign, with 450 operators offering more than 800 deals to entice travellers, she said. "A key part of this campaign's success were the deals the tourism industry came to the party with. This team approach showed we can deliver great results for the sector when government and industry are joined up and working towards the same goals." The campaign received an initial $500,000 budget from the International Visitor Levy, but received an additional $300,000 boost. Of the additional visitors, 6804 of them could be directly attributed to bookings made via the campaign, with the remaining 1177 linked to the indirect conversion activity. The total number of Aussie arrivals in autumn increased by more than 24,000 - hitting 331,571 this year. "Every one of those Australian visitors who ate at cafes and restaurants, visited tourist attractions and shopped in our towns and cities has helped the New Zealand tourism sector grow, and boosted the Kiwi economy in the process," Upston said.

Federated Farmers Release Rural Banking Report Cards
Federated Farmers Release Rural Banking Report Cards

Scoop

time4 hours ago

  • Scoop

Federated Farmers Release Rural Banking Report Cards

A Federated Farmers survey has revealed how the country's biggest rural lenders are performing in the eyes of farmers - ranking the banks from best to worst. "A farmer's relationship with their bank is one of the most important relationships within their business, and for many farmers interest payments will be their single-biggest expense," says Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Mark Hooper. "Farmers, along with politicians and the general public, deserve full transparency of what each of the rural lenders is doing well - and just as importantly, what they're not doing so well. "That's why, for the first time, we've asked farmers to tell us how the banks are stacking up. "We're now releasing these report cards because we want to create more visibility of rural banking issues and competition." Federated Farmers' May banking survey of 681 farmers found Rabobank and ANZ were the top-performing rural banks, sharing first-place on the podium. Rabobank received the highest scores for overall satisfaction, communication quality and overdraft rate. ANZ scored the best farmer ratings for mortgage rates, the level of undue pressure felt by farmers, and mental health scores. Westpac came in at the middle of the pack, scoring well with their mortgage rates and communication. BNZ and ASB were nearly tied in last place, showing they've got some work to do with farmers. Hooper says the banks' CEOs should keep an eye out for a report card coming their way. "The purpose of these report cards isn't to tear down the banks - it's to really help them see what they need to focus on to deliver a better service to Kiwi farmers. "Over the coming weeks we'll be providing each of the banks with a copy of their report card, and some constructive feedback on how they could improve. "We hope this is a helpful process and results in a benefit to both farmers and their lenders." ANZ Mortgage Rate: A+ Overdraft Rate: A Undue Pressure: A+ Comm. Quality: B Mental Health: A+ Overall Satisfaction: A Final Grade: A- Rabobank Mortgage Rate: B Overdraft Rate: A+ Undue Pressure: A Comm. Quality: A+ Mental Health: A Overall Satisfaction: A+ Final Grade: A- Westpac Mortgage Rate: A Overdraft Rate: C Undue Pressure: D Comm. Quality: A Mental Health: B Overall Satisfaction: B Final Grade: C+ BNZ Mortgage Rate: D Overdraft Rate: D Undue Pressure: B Comm. Quality: D Mental Health: D Overall Satisfaction: C Final Grade: C- ASB Mortgage Rate: C Overdraft Rate: B Undue Pressure: C Comm. Quality: C Mental Health: C Overall Satisfaction: D Final Grade: D

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store