The Bathhouse
Four treatment rooms, a 16 m lap pool and two hot tubs on the north deck, built into the ground floor in the 2016 refit.
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The Sunshine Bay Bathhouse
Named for the bay on the far side of town, where the water is shallow enough to be swimmable by February and where half of Queenstown goes when the beaches in town fill up. The bathhouse itself went into the ground floor in the 2016 refit, in the space that was the motor lodge’s garage until 2015.
The lap pool is 16 m and kept at 28°C, which is warm enough to sit in and cool enough to swim properly. Two hot tubs sit on the north deck at 38°C, both looking down the arm. There is a sauna, and a cold plunge that most guests use exactly once and then talk about at breakfast.
Pool, tubs, sauna and plunge are free to anyone staying in the hotel. No booking, no time slot, no wristband.
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The treatment rooms
Four rooms, two of them doubles. Six therapists between them, and the same four have been here since the refit. Treatments run 30, 50 or 80 minutes.
| Massage, 50 minutes | NZ$165 Relaxation, deep tissue or sports |
|---|---|
| Massage, 80 minutes | NZ$235 The one to take after a day on the hill |
| Facial, 50 minutes | NZ$175 Products made in Central Otago, not flown in |
| Double room, 50 minutes | NZ$320 Two therapists, one room, side by side |
| Half day, 3 hours | NZ$440 Massage, facial, and the tubs before and after |
Book at the desk, on +64 3 450 2740, or through the form. In July and February the last slots of the day go first, so it is worth booking when you book the room.
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House rules, such as they are
Under-16s are welcome in the lap pool until 6pm and not in the hot tubs at any hour — 38°C is hotter than it looks and children overheat faster than adults do.
No glass past the changing rooms. Towels are in the racks by the door and there is no need to bring one down from the room. The deck is heated underfoot in winter, which is why nobody wears the slippers we put out.
The bathhouse closes at 9pm sharp. The desk can arrange an early opening at 6am for a group of four or more if you ask the day before.
In a package
Bathhouse and Lake is two nights with breakfast, unlimited use of the pool and tubs, and one 50-minute treatment each, from NZ$724.
Getting here
88 Frankton Road, Queenstown 9300. Eight minutes from the airport, seven from the town centre.