One of New Zealand’s Great Walks adds new level of comfort

13 June 2012

One of New Zealand’s Great Walks adds new level of comfort

New Zealand’s premier guided walking company, Ultimate Hikes has announced the availability of private ensuite rooms on its Routeburn Track Guided Walk.

Based in Queenstown, Ultimate Hikes is the only company to offer fully catered guided walks on the Routeburn, Milford and Greenstone Tracks.

It has started construction of 16 new private en-suite rooms - eight at Lake Mackenzie Lodge and eight at Falls Lodge, both owned and operated by Ultimate Hikes.

The new lodge rooms can now be booked for the 2012/13 walking season, which begins in November.

Ultimate Hikes General Manager Noel Saxon said he was “thrilled” about the development and the standard of what would be on offer.

“This is a very exciting development for the Routeburn Track Guided Walk, and brings it more in line with the level of accommodation options already available on the Milford Track,” he said.

“With a limited number of private rooms available, I do suggest people get in and book early as our experience with the Milford Track has shown us they’ll be hugely popular.”

Mr Saxon said there were over a dozen construction workers living on site working hard to get the job done, overseen by tracks operation manager Andrew Jolly.

“We started building in March this year and the weather over autumn has allowed us to make a great start, so they’ve made excellent progress,” he said.

“With the exterior cladding complete and winter descending upon us, we’ll be shutting the lodges down next week and work will resume in spring.”

The full project includes additional staff quarters with all work scheduled to be completed by opening day on November 1 2012.

Walkers booking on the six-day/five-night Grand Traverse walk will be able to upgrade their accommodation on the Routeburn Track section, but multi-share dormitories are still the only accommodation available on the Greenstone Track.

Walkers can now choose to book private rooms for both journeys as part of The Classic option which combines the Routeburn and the Milford Track walks.

Bookings for the 2012/13 walking season can be made online at www.ultimatehikes.co.nz or through the reservations centre – 03 4501940 or by emailing info@ultimatehikes.co.nz. The season will open on November 1 and will continue until late April 2013.

About Ultimate Hikes:
Ultimate Hikes is New Zealand’s premier guided walking company and operates on the Milford, Routeburn and Greenstone Tracks and Hooker Valley Track. Based in Queenstown, Ultimate Hikes offers private guided treks through New Zealand’s prime walking tracks including the Milford, Routeburn and Greenstone tracks which traverse Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks and the Hooker Valley, located in Aoraki Mt Cook National Park The Parks are the cornerstone of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area. The walking season runs from November 1 until late April. Ultimate Hikes prides itself on its standard of service. Professionally trained guides are carefully selected to ensure that every walker has a memorable time. This is endorsed by clients who invariably refer to the ‘exceptional walking, superb accommodation and top guiding’ they encounter. Packages include all accommodation, meals, snacks, backpacks and rain jackets, and while the minimum age for walkers on the Ultimate Hikes experience is 10 years old, there is no maximum age. While many guests are not experienced hikers, they are often adventure seekers keen to face fresh challenges.

ENDS

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