Who hasn’t pondered the possibilities of slipping by unnoticed and staying after hours at a museum or gallery? To slumber under history, art, and memorabilia is a one-of-a-kind experience. Here, in historic Ōamaru, you don’t have to sneak past security to enjoy this surreal kind of shut eye.
Spend the night at Poshtel.
Whether you’re a history buff, a budding Indiana Jones, or you just want a good night’s sleep, Poshtel is where vintage aesthetics and modern luxuries meet to give you a different stay.
The rooms range from standard to deluxe sizes. Rooms that adjoin can be curated for families and groups, and there are also accessible rooms available for people with disabilities.
Brimming with antiques and trinkets, courtesy of an owner who collects to a great extent, Poshtel boasts 15 rooms all with different themes. From fly fishing to Antarctic exploration and farming, the eclectic rooms embrace each theme right down to the lamps and toilet roll holders.
Shelley, who manages Poshtel with her husband Aidan, says the sporting collections revolve around sports that have been important within Otago. “It’s so great someone is preserving this for future generations because so much of this stuff actually gets thrown out…We’re not nervous about people touching things.”
The couple returned from the UK in January 2020 after a long period in Cheltenham managing two bed and breakfasts, “We just think we’re lucky. Very, very lucky.”
Open for close to two years, the hotel is steadily becoming a searched for place to stay, “A lot of people come down to do the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail. A lot of Aucklanders. Not enough Wellingtonians. I’d like to see a few more down here.”
Shelley says managing the unique accommodation is a constant source of surprise, “Every day I find something new. Everywhere.”
Poshtel, being a treasure trove, makes it hard to play favourites with the different spaces, “This lounge is where people walk in and they go wow!…I like the snooker room. I like the way the light comes in. Upstairs we have a music room and that’s really lovely. We had the NZ Orchestra stay, when they came to play at the Ōamaru Opera House, I put one of them in the music room…Then in the gallery we’ve got a canon that was salvaged by Kelly Tarlton off Tiritiri Matangi Island, so that for Aucklanders is really important.”
Keen ambassadors for the region, Shelley enjoys giving her guests ideas of where to explore next, “You can hire a car in Ōamaru and drive down to Moeraki, we’ve got fabulous food at Fleur’s Place, and then if you go North West you’ve got Ōmārama, and the Clay Cliffs. People are fascinated to hear filming was done there for the Disney film Mulan.”
With so much diversity in the Waitaki District it’s important to have a luxurious bed awaiting explorers at the end of a jam-packed day—and that’s exactly what Poshtel provides.
There’s so much to see in the hotel rooms, you’ll just have to come back!
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