The Hermitage Hotel, Mount Cook Village

The Hermitage Hotel, Mount Cook Village is a hotel located inside the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, 65km north of Twizel.The hotel and a lodge & motel complex also owned and operated by The Hermitage, form the main parts of Mount Cook Village, with the hotel being the only large building in the area. The current site, slightly elevated on the valley-side was chosen in 1913 for its unimpeded views of Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Sefton.Most rooms in the main hotel building facing north enjoy views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, as do the two restaurants through their large glass windows. The peak of Aoraki/Mount Cook is only 15km away, further up the Hooker Valley. Below the also clearly visible Mount Sefton is Huddleston Glacier, named after the original hotel developer Frank Huddleston, a surveyor and painter from Timaru, who was appointed ranger for the Mount Cook area in the 1880s.The Hermitage Hotel further houses the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, showcasing the region and its history. It includes a cinema showing related documentary films, and a museum in the foyer.Organised tours on the nearby walking tracks, bus tours, and boat tours on the Tasman glacier lake use the hotel as their base, with tours leaving and returning at the main building's foyer and car park.The village's only retail shop is also contained within the main hotel building, comparable to a very small dairy (convenience store) in its range of groceries. The nearest supermarket is 65km away in Twizel.