The Spire Hotel Queenstown is a stylish, romantic, and pricey boutique hotel frequented by vacationing couples and well-heeled business travelers. It occupies a lovely gray-stone building, with frosted-glass balconies and design-savvy interiors, including a cozy lobby with a stone gas fireplace. Another popular hangout spot is No5 cocktail bar, a trendy but casual space, with orange tufted-leather banquettes, high-backed barstools, and dark-wood tables. There's also an outdoor patio with large wicker sofas for lounging, set under heat lamps to keep the scene going on cool evenings.

The hotel is located on a pedestrian-only street in the center of Queenstown, close to a bevy of shops and restaurants. It's a block from Lake Wakatipu, and roughly a four-minute walk to the edge of Queenstown Gardens. It's about a half  hour drive to the wineries at Gibbston Valley and Peregrine, while Coronet Peak is a 24-minute drive from the hotel. Davies Park -- home of the Queenstown Events Center and Frankton Golf Course -- can be reached in about 12 minutes by car. The airport is a 15-minute drive away. 

Guest rooms are exquisitely polished and have clean lines, plus high-end designer furniture and upscale amenities. All units have the same sophisticated neutral decor, with deep red accents throughout. Crisp white duvets don beds with dark-wood headboards and side tables, sleek chrome desks are topped with thick glass and have ergonomic chairs, and cream daybeds are dotted with contrasting black throw pillows. All rooms have gas fireplaces and spacious furnished balconies, and are equipped with flat-screen TVs with satellite cable, CD/DVD players, minibars, kettles and free coffee and tea, terrycloth robes, slippers, safes, and irons.

Bathrooms are equally posh, with double sinks, walk-in showers with removable showerheads, separate soaking tubs, and ample Molton Brown bath products. Rooms at the rear of the hotel look out over a church (hence the hotel's name). Note that there have been noise complaints from past guests due to revelers on the surrounding streets.

Amenities are limited at this boutique property, but the hotel does have a full-service restaurant -- No5 Church Lane -- which features Mediterranean fare and has a solid wine list. The bar is open daily and serves cocktails and assorted libations, and has an outdoor patio with heat lamps for chilly nights. The hotel also offers room service. 

For business travelers, there's a meeting room that can hold up to 20 guests, which has good audiovisual equipment, including a 60-inch flat-screen TV, and catering and private dining is available. There's no spa or on-site fitness center, but guests are given free passes to a local gym down the road. Wi-Fi is free throughout, and valet parking and an a la carte breakfast is free for travelers who book directly through the hotel's website.