Good news from New Zealand: The Mantra Group has announced its expansion plans in the islands with a further two properties joining the group’s Peppers and Mantra hotel networks.
The new additions – Peppers Portage and Mantra Lake Tekapo (pictured) – will bring the total New Zealand network to 12 properties, comprised of eight Peppers retreats and resorts; two Mantra resorts; and two BreakFree resorts. Peppers is one of the fastest growing luxury hotel brands in New Zealand having added four properties to the network in 2012 with further expansion scheduled in 2013.
The former Portage Resort Hotel has opened its doors as Peppers Portage. Plans to upgrade rooms, restaurant and bar plus the landscaping of the surrounding grounds to meet Peppers standards are scheduled for later in 2013. (Tip: The 41-room boutique resort is a good pick for winery tours in and around Blenheim and Picton.) Peppers Portage also offers conferencing venues for up to 100 delegates with a variety of outdoor team building activities available. Peppers Portage will be the fourth property added to the Peppers network in New Zealand in the last 12 months following other 2012 additions.
Joining the group under the four-star Mantra hotel brand, Mantra Lake Tekapo has 28 three-bedroom villas on the edge of Lake Tekapo, one of New Zealand’s emerging tourism destinations. The three bedrooms villas offer kitchens, two and a half bathrooms with underfloor heating and living areas with furnishings and private courtyard, with guest facilities such as swimming pool, hot tub and entertainment area included. Lake Tekapo is situated in the heart of the Mackenzie Country by the Southern Alps and the Two Thumb range, located a short drive from Round Hill snowfields and the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve and Mt John Observatory.