- The deadline for expressions of interest in the Cardrona Hotel closed with no immediate update.
- Cade Thornton said eight groups, from New Zealand, Australia, the US, and Singapore, showed interest.
- Thornton and co-owner Alexis are confident in finding a skilled publican for the hotel.
It's crunch time for the Cardrona Hotel, in Central Otago. The deadline for expressions of interest in one of New Zealand's most viewed listings closed at 4pm on Friday, but from the vendors, silence.
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OneRoof reached out to one of the co-owners, Cade Thornton, after the deadline passed, but the call went to his voicemail.
"You have reached Cade Thornton, Cardrona Hotel. Please leave me a message or send me a text."
Earlier this week, he told the media that he was dealing with eight interested groups.
“We’ve had a lot of enquiry from Australia, as well as potential domestic buyers,” he said.
Friends Cade Thornton and James Jenneson have turned the hotel into a booming business but are selling up after 12 busy years. Photo / Supplied
“We have narrowed our discussions down to eight groups, so it’s looking promising. Each is a fantastic operator with a background in hospitality or hotels. [Co-owner Alexis Thornton] and I are confident that we'll find a highly skilled and experienced publican who will do great things for the hotel.”
He said the interested buyers were from New Zealand, Australia, the US, and Singapore, most of whom had a prior connection to the Cardrona Hotel.
“It has been nice to see that almost all the interested parties already have an emotional connection to the hotel and have visited or stayed with us in the past,” he said.
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Earlier this month, he told OneRoof: “It’s a freehold going concern, we’re selling the land and building. On August 15, people will present an offer to us, and we will work with someone from there. Fingers crossed. Hopefully it sells. We’ll see. You never know. It doesn’t sell until the money’s in the bank.”
There was an air of excitement in town, which is a 40-minute drive from Queenstown, just ahead of the sale deadline.
Margaret Bowes, who owns the general store opposite the hotel, told OneRoof that the sale was a big deal among locals as the hotel was a real hub. She said the changeover would be the end of an era.
“Cade’s made it a very important part of the community, and people love it. There is a sense of local community there," she said.
The hotel is a New Zealand icon, and sits in the Cardrona Valley, on the scenic route between Wanaka and Queenstown. Photo / Getty Images
“We're just hoping the new owners will carry that on, but obviously very sad to see Cade go, but there's a time for everything, and he's got other things he has to do. People are supportive but sad.”
Bowes hadn’t heard any rumours about prospective buyers: “I've no idea. It's all been very quiet, but it is a very big deal to have that change, and we're all hoping for business as usual, but you never know.”
She said she went to the hotel regularly, as Thursday night was locals night. “It's an iconic old hotel. There aren't many of them like that. It's got a gorgeous beer garden, the grounds are lovely, the food's good and the staff are great. It's a very welcoming, homely, family place.”
John Fisher, an agent from New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty who sells in Cardrona, said everyone in the town was on tenterhooks. “I was just down there an hour or so ago, and the conversation was about, ‘I wonder what will happen’," he told OneRoof on Friday afternoon.
“It will be exciting to find out what happens, but the town’s going pretty well anyway with all the latest things that are going on there.”
The hotel was an important part of the community. “The skiers right now – it will be bulging at the seams, because they come off the mountain in their hundreds, and they end up in several areas of the bar.
“The bar’s quite big and it goes right out the back, and most people sit out by the fires. It's a very cool spot.”
Thornton told OneRoof that his adventure in the hotel industry started as a road trip, a lap of the South Island in a classic sports car with his friend James Jenneson, to escape the stresses of post-quake Christchurch.
The pair stopped at the iconic Cardrona Hotel for a beer and were quickly on their way to a whole new career.
“While we were living good lives, we were looking for a change,” Thornton told OneRoof.
“We called into the Cardrona Hotel in the pouring rain. It was so cool, although in need of a zhuzh up.” The friends never expected to buy the hotel, but that’s exactly what happened, after Thornton’s mother suggested it. Eight months of due diligence later, and the pair bought the building and business.
At the time, the heritage-listed hotel was struggling. It didn’t have a website, or an online booking platform, or any social media presence. The pair employed new staff, and the business boomed.
The two friends and their partners, Alexis Thornton and Fleur Jenneson, are selling up, just as the ski town’s property market hits boom phase.
“It’s just time,” Thornton told OneRoof. “It’s 12-and-a-half years, it’s my 13th winter, and in that time we’ve both got married, we’ve got kids. It’s a busy business, and people call my wife the pub widow because I’m always at work.”
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