Iconic New Zealand hotel to close following shock seismic report
The Chateau Tongariro, one of New Zealand’s most iconic hotels has announced it will close permanently following a recent seismic assessment which said the hotel would need costly restrengthening if it was to stay operating.
The hotel sits on the lower slopes of Mount Ruapehu, and it has continued to operate through numerous eruptions from the volcano.
It’s the need for a mountain of money that’s proved to be insurmountable for the establishment that will lay dormant from 5 February.
The Chateau’s website, which normally boasts of its unbeatable views of Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, is now replaced with a simple message announcing the hotel’s closure.
A message on the Chateau’s website.
While it’s no secret it’s been some time since the building had been renovated or had major repairs. But that’s not stopped many from reminiscing about the building’s history.
One caller to a New Zealand talkback station shared the story of how she travelled to the hotel in the 1920s with her best friend. The two of them met “a couple of lads” at a dance. They both went on to be married to those lads for decades.
Kevin Peeris from the Chateau’s Singapore-based parent company Bayview International, called it a “very sad day”, saying the safety of staff and guests had to be a priority.
It’s not just the need for structural repairs that put the writing on the wall for the Chateau. Following years of COVID, tourism failed to return to the area in big numbers due to a lack of snow on the nearby ski slopes of Turoa and Whakapapa.
It’s not known what may happen next to the building that’s sat in the foreground of Mount Ruapehu for nearly a century.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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