I’m amazed this hotel can state they are a “luxury” hotel because our experience was anything but! I was very upset because I’ve stayed in Super 8 and Travelodge motels that were of higher quality in accommodations and helpful staff…literally. I do not think I’ve stayed anywhere with such poor customer service, small rooms, and lack of pride in cleanliness. It’s probably easiest just to give a list:

a. The room was extremely tiny, such as you could not open up two suitcases on the floor…there wasn’t room.
b. The supposed “king size bed” was actually two twin beds shoved together with a king-sized sheet put over the twin mattresses.
c. The coffee pot was FILTHY dirty.
d. The sink was plugged up and for whatever reason, the staff couldn't comprehend that it was plugged (they kept referring to the problem as a "leak.").
e. The refrigerator was so cold, it froze our breakfast for the next morning.
f. The bathroom had no counter space and there is a sign that says you must close the bathroom door completely otherwise the fire alarm would go off due to the steam.
g. The only window was on the side and it overlooked…a concrete wall with stairs.
h. We called the front desk because we thought there must be some mistake. Nope, that was our room. We asked if we could change to a different room. The first person we talked to said that should be okay because they had rooms available, but we needed to call the front desk. In the 2 minutes it took us to hang up then call the front desk, it seemed they had a surge of guests as they were now booked to capacity but if we wanted to upgrade to an “apartment” we could do that for an additional $150/night.
i. We asked for a late check-out since our plane didn’t leave until late afternoon and we were initially denied. We pressed to at least get an hour which they begrudgingly agreed.

We thought about going to a different hotel, but since it was already paid (via our travel agent) and we were only there for two nights, we decided to endure for the duration of our reservation. But, it was anything but luxurious or enjoyable.

We stayed in December for a 3 night booking which we extended to 4.
Initially we got a top floor 2 bedroom suite (fabulous view but small lounge area) accessed by a steep staircase. After a quick trip to reception for a chat with the very helpful and very funny Kerry we were given a key to another room to view and decide if we wanted to move or not. We rang down to say we wanted it and Kerry then met us at the original room and moved our luggage immediately.
This new room was stunning, huge lounge, vast patio windows, and excellent facilities. It was cleaned every day and even the soap in the bathroom was replaced daily.
We had 2 large bedrooms, one with bathroom and one with shower room, and there was plenty of space in the cupboards for all our luggage.
We were mildly aware of noise from the room next door but it wasn't a distraction
The washing machine, free soap powder and tumble dryer was really useful
The local restaurants are easy to walk to (approx 5 minutes on the flat) and there was a lot of choice - with free guides to food and activities available everywhere.
Queenstown was the best place for buying merino tops - much better than Christchurch.
Our favourite activity was the 2 hour River Wild trip with Dart Stables in Glenorchy. It was truly stunning and I'd recommend it to anyone ( My mum (73) and I both loved it and are total novices at riding).
Our second favourite day in QT area was visiting Arrowtown. It is definitely worth a trip to see the lovely village with very friendly staff in the shops.The Chinese Settlement was interesting, with a walk along the river bank highly recommended as is a stop at Lake Hayes on your way back
We rearranged our schedule to stay an extra night and only wish we could have stayed longer.

Just returned from a two night stay at the Peppers Beacon Queenstown, which was booked by our travel agent here in the States.

Let me first say the location of the hotel is good, with a view of the Lake and within easy walking distance to the main areas of Queenstown. However, the positive aspects stop there.

How this hotel received its 5 star rating is a mystery, as at best it would be a 2 star hotel here in America. From it's tiny, dingy and dirty standard "hotel" rooms (which take 2 elevator rides and a walk either through a parking garage or courtyard full of offices to get to, if you are above level 5), its unhelpful and rude staff and lack of amenities, I would be hard pressed to even let my dog stay here.

There are plenty other options to stay in Queenstown. Take advantage of them.

We stayed at Peppers Beacon for one night in March 2008.

We very disappointed with this hotel. The hotel is advertised as being a 5 star hotel, but it is 4 stars at best.

The rooms do not have very good sound proofing. You can hear everything next door or outside your door, including the lift buzzing and opening and closing.

Also:

- we ran out of toilet paper overnight (there was only half a roll of toilet paper when we arrived).

- our room was not ready for checkin when we arrived. To be fair on this point, we booked through www.wotif.com and the email confirmation we received from www.wotif.com said that the check in time was 2pm. We arrived just after 2pm at the hotel and were told that check in was not until 3pm. When we finally managed to check in, there was no cover on our quilt!!

The place really just isn't deserving of a 5 star rating. Another example of this was when we approached receptionist to ask about the NZ departure tax. We wanted to make sure that you could pay the departure tax by credit card. When we asked the receiptionist, she said that we need to pay the departure tax (der....) but when we asked about the credit card issue she said that she didn't know and that we would need to call the airport and find out. It probably seems like a bit of a picky issue, but I've stayed at 5 star hotels that would the extra step and find out those sorts of answers for you/

We would not recommend this hotel to anyone we know. It was the worst accommodation we had during our NZ trip. We would recommend that travellers look at other 5 start accommodation in Queenstown in preference to staying at this hotel.