The Best Hotels Near Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat, by the Record
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The view across Lake Pukaki to Aoraki Mount Cook is the kind that makes you forget what you were worried about. This small, Michelin-selected retreat runs just a handful of one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas with a European-tinged luxury feel and a chef-driven, garden-to-table restaurant on site. The nearby Pukaki Observatory means the stargazing, on clear southern nights, is a legitimate reason to stay up past your bedtime.
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Five suites and a handful of freestanding Pods sit so quietly in the Ahuriri Valley that the South Island tussock grasslands barely notice they're there. The Lindis is a lodge where the architecture is unapologetically angular and modern, which somehow makes the landscape look wilder by contrast. Hiking, stargazing, and river fishing fill the days, and the kitchen leans on its own gardens. The Michelin Guide awarded it two Keys.