The Hermitage Hotel has stood at the foot of Aoraki/Mount Cook since 1884, rebuilt twice after fire and flood. It remains the only hotel of any real scale inside Aoraki/Mount Cook Village — a tiny alpine settlement that exists almost entirely to serve visitors to the national park around it. That size matters as the village's total light output is negligible against the scale of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve surrounding it, which at Gold Tier status and over a million acres is the largest reserve of its class anywhere on Earth.

The resort runs its own Big Sky Stargazing tours, taking you to a purpose-built viewing base with high-powered telescopes and staffed by astronomy guides running 75–90 minute sessions in English and Mandarin. The resort has a level of dedicated infrastructure matched by few other resorts in our collection. An on-site planetarium extends the experience if you are visiting on a cloudy night, when the famously fast-changing alpine weather closes off direct viewing.

Multi night stays are a very good idea!

STARGAZING AMENITIES: Guided tours with high-powered telescopes at a purpose-built viewing base, tours available in English and Mandarin, in-room mountain views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, on-site planetarium at the resort.