Carlin Hotel companies placed in receivership

Two companies behind Queenstown's luxury Carlin Hotel have been placed in receivership, following the death of hotelier Kevin Carlin.

The $35m Hallenstein Street hotel, which opened two years ago and was marketed as six-star, was a retirement passion project for Carlin, who died suddenly in December last year, aged 69.

The successful American property developer, businessman and musician had listed the seven-storey property for sale last year.

Crowned best new boutique hotel in the world by Boutique Hotel Awards in 2022, it offers guests accommodation in 14 suites, featuring hot tubs, fire pits and dining on outdoor terraces, with airport transfers in a Bentley.

Father-of-four Carlin, who'd lived in Queenstown for more than a decade and also developed The Waterfront Apartments and Lakeside Estates, planned to stay on as hotelier.

BDO Christchurch confirmed yesterday Pablo (Aust) Pty Limited, which holds security over the land, buildings, and business of the companies, had appointed the firm as receivers for Carlin Hotel Property Management Limited and Queenstown Views Villas Limited, which own and operate the property.

Receivership is a tool that can assist creditors in recovering funds in default and can help troubled companies avoid bankruptcy. Having a receivership in place makes it easier for a lender to obtain the funds that are owed to them if a borrower defaults on a loan.

DBO accountant Diana Matchett and Colin Gower, both Licensed Insolvency Practitioners, will handle the process.

"The Hotel will continue to trade as normal," they said in a statement.

"Guests can expect no disruption to their stay, while staff, suppliers, contractors, and service providers will continue to be paid as normal for all authorised post receivership goods and services supplied."

They are looking for buyers for the companies, and / or their assets, and are "working to build a comprehensive picture of the financial state of the Companies and intend to provide an update in their first Receivers’ Report."

That's expected before 3 May, 2024.

Born in the US, Carlin lived a varied life, initially training as a chef before developing restaurants and a Californian catering business, which included celebrities such as Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Tom Petty and Olivia Newton-John​.

He toured with rock legend Osbourne as his private chef, and the business led him to develop a mobile kitchen, which he patented and sold to organisations, including McDonald's, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

His career in property development began more than 30 years ago, developing properties in the US and multi-million landmark houses on Australia's Gold Coast.

In Queenstown, he developed Lakeside Estates, The Waterfront Hotel, and partnered with Australia-based Centuria on the five-star Radisson-branded hotel,​ which is being built on the corner of Brecon St and Man St.

But his "beyond five-star" Carlin Boutique Hotel, with its Oro restaurant, was his most ambitious and memorable project.

The $35 million hotel was built on a tight site on Hallenstein St through the Covid-19 years, with Carlin managing to avoid supply chain issues and escalating costs by having the foresight to order all the materials he needed beforehand and put them in storage.

To ensure jaw-dropping views for his penthouse guest and other floors, he paid for the power lines to be undergrounded in front of the property.

The labour-of-love project opened in March 2022, just in time for the borders to reopen, and won several awards.

Carlin could often be found performing in the hotel's restaurant. Trained as a concert pianist and skilled on multiple instruments, including guitar and sax, he released numerous albums over the years and composed many pieces, across different genres.

In 2003, he composed 14 orchestral pieces for album, The Princess of Wales. It was performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and reached 23 in the charts. He later met Prince Charles, now King Charles III, at London's St James' Palace to present him with the album.