NZSki’s hoping to move staff in to its new Queenstown hostel by the winter school holidays.
In March, Mountain Scene reported the skifield operator bought the former Sir Cedrics Tahuna Pod Hostel, on Henry Street, for staff accommodation.
The company took possession of the building, which has existing capacity for 72 people, last Monday.
However, NZSki boss Paul Anderson’s hoping to create room for another 24 bodies by renovating part of the ground floor — that’s dependent on consenting and availability of construction workers.
Before staff move in, though, more bathroom cubicles and rooms need to be installed downstairs, and while it’s all internal, Anderson thinks ‘‘it’d be unrealistic that we could get that done before the mountains open’’.
‘‘Touch wood we can get it done by school holidays when our workforce is at its peak.’’
He says it’s become increasingly tough to accommodate staff in the resort and while purchasing the hostel’s been ‘‘a significant undertaking … for us it’s just become part of the cost of doing business in Queenstown’’.
NZSki already owns five staff houses on Fryer St, which can house up to 25 people, and has plans to build another 18 units on the same street, housing up to 40 staff, by next season.
Anderson says during the summer months, NZSki will look at continuing to operate the hostel as a business, as it already has its own
website and runs successfully as the Tahuna Hostel.
