Mountainside folly: what now for the Chateau?

Mountainside folly: what now for the Chateau?
A romantic money pit: the Chateau was postcard perfect when it snowed. (Image: NZME)
Pattrick Smellie
Fixing seismic weaknesses and other upgrades at the iconic Chateau Tongariro Hotel would have cost more than $15 million for a hotel that didn't make a profit in 31 out of 32 years to 2017.Releases to BusinessDesk under the Official Information Act show that the Chateau closed in February because the hotel’s operator, Kah New Zealand, could not reach commercially acceptable terms with the building’s ultimate owner, the Department of Conservation, following six years of negotiations for a renewal.Now, the fate of the Category 1 h...

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