Blanket Bay Lodge a Hidden Getaway

If you’re looking for the perfect getaway this winter, you should look no further than New Zealand’s best luxury lodge on the north edge of the stunning Lake Whakatipu at Blanket Bay.

Blanket Bay is so called because the original pioneers from Europe would shear their sheep on the shore under rough shelters stitched together from blankets.

Today, the sheep are still there, and someone presumably still shears them (they look fabulous) but the rough shelters have given way to Blanket Bay Lodge, a rustic (but actually modern) five-star lodge hailed as one of world’s best.

Owned by former Levi Strauss president Tom Usher and his wife Pauline, the property was initially bought in the 1970s as a lakeside getaway, before reopening as a private hotel in 1998. It has consistently won major international awards and regularly appears on Condé Nast Traveler’s “world’s best” lists.

“In this spectacular corner of New Zealand discover endless ways to restore your physical and spiritual wellbeing,” the website advises. “Here we celebrate the art of pure relaxation.”

Original article by News.com.au, August 2, 2015.