The Remarkables Ski Area
The Remarkables Ski Area
4.5
Mountains • Ski & Snowboard Areas
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Queenstowns alpine ski area, the Remarkables are welcoming and relaxed for beginners and challenging for the more experienced.
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  • Amanda
    Greymouth, New Zealand56 contributions
    Such fun!
    First time to The Remarkables, only been to Coronet peak. Well laid out, lots of lockers and the skiers seem to fly through the lifts. We got a private one on one lesson for our son who hadnt skied before and whilst it seems a bit expensive it was well worth it. After his lesson he was away with all the confidence in the world. We also took the snow bus up....so much easier than taking your own car and they drop you right at the door. Will def come back.
    Visited September 2020
    Traveled with family
    Written September 29, 2020
  • ThePlantBasedTravellers
    Brighton, United Kingdom34 contributions
    Instructors are amazing - shame it can’t be said for f&b staff
    The Remarkables is a really wonderful day out if you are visiting Queenstown to ski or snowboard, the snow is definitely better there than at Coronet Peak if you’re struggling to choose. We had a snowboard lesson with Adam (I think!) and he was absolutely amazing. Our experience in the cafe area was not so good, except the barista’s - they are amazing, and make such good coffees! The manager, I think her name is Alex, was nothing but rude and abrupt whilst I was with my family, trying to rush us through the queue. It wasn’t a busy day and I felt her attitude was disgusting. Definitely would be bringing my own food and drinks on any future visits. Overall experience at the remarkables was great, smooth and consistent transport from town makes it easy to get there and back too so would definitely do this instead of risking driving up in bad conditions!
    Visited July 2021
    Traveled with family
    Written August 18, 2021
  • Kerrin T
    Brisbane, Australia16 contributions
    Remarkable Customer Service
    The staff at the Remarkable Ski Area went out of their way to help us - beyond expectation in fact. Their customer service is highly commended (overhearing the manager dealing with another customer who was challenging). Special mention to Isaac who did all he could to make sure our visit was pleasant. Thank you to the management team for their work and flexibility behind the scenes to rectify an error.
    Visited June 2021
    Written July 1, 2021
  • Richard M
    Sydney, Australia27 contributions
    Lacks value for money
    After skiing all week we went up for a lesson and afternoon ski. We arrived at midday and got our tickets and were ready for fittings of performance rentals at 12.20pm. The next hour was a nightmare with the staff at the counter going on breaks to leave one person to deal with logging people in and fitting us for ski, boots etc. we were the only ones needing to be served. That took 40 mins then we got on the mountain to find the bindings weren’t correct went back down to again take another 30 mins which started to eat into a lesson we’d booked. After spending $641 for two people with only 2 hours left you’d think they could provide a better service. This place is expensive for what it is. A sandwich for $10 was inedible and the cafe is ridiculously expensive for very average food. The staff are all nice but it’s not run well with little things like no refill for tomato sauce after paying $7 for a meat pie and tables not cleaned regularly. They really need to get it together because it just feels like a money grab.
    Kia Ora Richard, Your review is important to us and I have taken this directly to the Rental crew to review and look for ways to improve the performance of that team. Service is critical to our success and this experience has certainly let us down. I apologize on behalf of the team and know we can and will do much better going forward. We have since been in email contact and hope to see you back here sometime in the future as only then ca we qualify improvements in our operation and delivery of service.
    Written July 14, 2021
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited July 2021
    Traveled with family
    Written July 8, 2021
  • GenSprings
    Cedar Rapids, Iowa25 contributions
    Rude and arrogant chain attendant
    Hired a car and hired some chains. Thought I would do my bit for the struggling tourism sector to "support local". I had visited Coronet Peak a few years ago and a lovely British expat worker had graciously helped us fit the chains to our 2WD in the chain bay. As for Sunday 4th July 2020 at The Remarkables? A big fat NO. We were so excited to support the local economy and the guys being employed here post-COVID. Also excited to come skiing on opening weekend. But the rude and arrogant chain attendant (white, male, kiwi accent) kept shouting at us that we were doing it wrong and then kept returning to the road to direct other traffic. Refused to assist. So my questions to The Remarkables management are: 1. Why hire someone so rude to vulnerable tourists when there are thousands of better applicants waiting, jobless, to do a better job? 2. Why roster only a single person to be in the chain bay when there should be at least four people rostered on, for opening weekend? 3. Why put up an abrasive notice on your website "we do not have a chain fitting service this year" when it is opening weekend after months of lockdown and the industry needs desperately to impress tourists? 4. Why charge so much for lift passes if you can't even hire or roster enough staff for basic health and safety? 5. Why risk losing your Tourism NZ license for rude and arrogant behaviour towards tourists who are trying desperately to support your enterprise? I cannot believe that the local Chamber of Commerce, local Mayors and members of parliament can continue to support The Renarkabkes Ski Fields unless radical changes are made and apologies given to tourists. Remember, tourists are gold. Treat us with a bit more respect!
    Hi there, thanks for taking the time to write a review. We appreciate your honest and real feedback regarding your recent visit to The Remarkables. We were overwhelmed with visitors on our opening day which did find us short staffed in some areas of our operation and we have since addressed that where practical to do so. Our intention is to remain a sustainable business going forward which has forced a re-think on certain aspects of our business and unfortunately removal of the chain fitting service is one result. As for the arrogance of the staff member you encountered, we have reinforced with all staff your experience and how our engagement (or lack there of in this case) does impact on the guest experience. I sincerely hope this was an isolated case because it does not reflect our desire to provide the utmost in positive interactions at every point of contact we have with all guests at all times.
    Written July 23, 2020
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited July 2020
    Traveled with family
    Written July 5, 2020
  • McF352
    Sydney, Australia50 contributions
    Travel up and down the mountain ruins it
    Remarkables has some nice ski runs for all levels, not a huge selection but ok. The main problem is access. You can drive or go by bus. Either way, Queenstown has a major infrastructure problem with only one road in and out and it comes to a complete standstill morning and evening. If you drive you have to walk uphill from the car parks or wait a long time for a shuttle and you will probably have to fit chains. If you take the bus it is even worse- you need to book a ticket at least a week out as they sell out. If you manage to get a bus ticket there are incredible queues. We waited 1.5 hours and 2 hours respectively to get on a bus back to Queenstown. Not worth it. All up you spend more time waiting and travelling than skiing. There is also only one restaurant which has decent food selection but is packed and feels like a train station. Not a great experience overall.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written June 30, 2023
  • S M
    Sydney, Australia59 contributions
    Do not board Remarkables bus from Upper Stanley St / Blue Peaks stop
    If you are getting the Remarkables Bus - board it at the Queenstown Snow Centre, NOT the stops along the way. We spent 5 days at the Remarkables ski resort from 26 June 2023. We booked the bus transfer each day to collect us from the Upper Stanley St / Blue Peaks stop (first stop after the Queenstown Snow Centre). This was a disaster - our first two days, the 8.30am bus we booked picked us up at 9.15am (only after all people at the Snow Centre had filled multiple buses did a bus with spare seats stop at Upper Stanley St). On the third day, the bus didn't even stop at Upper Stanley. We had booked an 8.30am bus and got picked up at 10am (by a 9.30am bus). The last two days we walked down to the Snow Centre and then had no problems. Although we felt sorry for people waiting at Upper Stanley. The bus we were on from the Snow Centre had 16 spare seats yet still did not stop at Upper Stanley. I asked the bus driver when we arrived at the Remarkables why he didn't stop, and he said he just forgot. The lesson here is just get on the bus at the Snow Centre. If you are staying near the Upper Stanley St stop / have booked bus to pick you up from there, just walk down the hill to the Snow Centre and save yourself the stress of not being picked up.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written July 3, 2023
  • Shamus
    5 contributions
    Too crowded
    The road up is long and slow with parking a bus trip away with a long line for the bus. Not too keen on the ski area as it was quite narrow with way to many people on it. . I found the other ski fields to be better.
    Visited July 2020
    Written August 4, 2020
  • justwaytoohard
    97 contributions
    Nothing Remarkable here
    I get it: this ski area is having a rotten season. All the hype,marketing, spin and noise won't hide that. The reality is that snow cover is poor. So what do they do? Jam as many skiers and tourists as possible into the mountain. Sell lift passes when there is no transport to get people up to the ski area. So, here's some tips: whatever the ski depth advertised: take 20cm off that. Whatever percentage of runs are open, deduct 30%. Assume runs will be seriously crowded as a result. Assume 20 minute wait times for some lifts and at least 10 minutes everywhere. Assume only one central area, where you'll wait 20 minutes for a coffee and pay over NZD10 for a litre of water. Assume a 15 minute wait for the loo if you are identifying as female. Assume that you'll pay up to $85 for a bus ride up the mountain, because the advertised $45 fares are long gone due to a driver shortage (apparently). Add that to the expensive (for what you get) lift ticket price, every day. Assume 45 minutes ride to get onto the slopes, or up to 2 hours if you take a car and they want chains fitted. Finally, assume a poky little unconnected ski area. Then...hope it snows. A lot. The only "remarkable" thing is the gap between the marketing and the reality.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 20, 2023
  • sassylassy2015
    Darwin, Australia25 contributions
    spent more time waiting in lines than skiing
    Awful. 1.5 hour wait in line BOTH WAYS for bus. Over 1 hour wait to hire gear then 1 hour to return it. And had to pay to store it overnight when 'free' storage reached capacity.- do not follow advice at snow centre in town to hire gear up the mountain cause its easier! Mainly young staff working 'the season' were run off their feet and so many were new and still learning basics (like where the toilets were). Very unfair and dangerous when you consider they are equipping people for a risky sport. And I don't buy the 'we're short staffed cause of covid' line. if we had been forewarned of the wait times we could have at least made an informed choice to go there or not. Worst experience skiiing ever. i would never advise anyone to ski here.
    Visited July 2022
    Written July 4, 2022
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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Richard M
Sydney, Australia27 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
After skiing all week we went up for a lesson and afternoon ski. We arrived at midday and got our tickets and were ready for fittings of performance rentals at 12.20pm. The next hour was a nightmare with the staff at the counter going on breaks to leave one person to deal with logging people in and fitting us for ski, boots etc. we were the only ones needing to be served. That took 40 mins then we got on the mountain to find the bindings weren’t correct went back down to again take another 30 mins which started to eat into a lesson we’d booked. After spending $641 for two people with only 2 hours left you’d think they could provide a better service. This place is expensive for what it is. A sandwich for $10 was inedible and the cafe is ridiculously expensive for very average food. The staff are all nice but it’s not run well with little things like no refill for tomato sauce after paying $7 for a meat pie and tables not cleaned regularly. They really need to get it together because it just feels like a money grab.
Written July 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kia Ora Richard, Your review is important to us and I have taken this directly to the Rental crew to review and look for ways to improve the performance of that team. Service is critical to our success and this experience has certainly let us down. I apologize on behalf of the team and know we can and will do much better going forward. We have since been in email contact and hope to see you back here sometime in the future as only then ca we qualify improvements in our operation and delivery of service.
Written July 15, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

GenSprings
Cedar Rapids, IA25 contributions
Jul 2020 • Family
Hired a car and hired some chains. Thought I would do my bit for the struggling tourism sector to "support local". I had visited Coronet Peak a few years ago and a lovely British expat worker had graciously helped us fit the chains to our 2WD in the chain bay. As for Sunday 4th July 2020 at The Remarkables? A big fat NO. We were so excited to support the local economy and the guys being employed here post-COVID. Also excited to come skiing on opening weekend. But the rude and arrogant chain attendant (white, male, kiwi accent) kept shouting at us that we were doing it wrong and then kept returning to the road to direct other traffic. Refused to assist. So my questions to The Remarkables management are: 1. Why hire someone so rude to vulnerable tourists when there are thousands of better applicants waiting, jobless, to do a better job? 2. Why roster only a single person to be in the chain bay when there should be at least four people rostered on, for opening weekend? 3. Why put up an abrasive notice on your website "we do not have a chain fitting service this year" when it is opening weekend after months of lockdown and the industry needs desperately to impress tourists? 4. Why charge so much for lift passes if you can't even hire or roster enough staff for basic health and safety? 5. Why risk losing your Tourism NZ license for rude and arrogant behaviour towards tourists who are trying desperately to support your enterprise? I cannot believe that the local Chamber of Commerce, local Mayors and members of parliament can continue to support The Renarkabkes Ski Fields unless radical changes are made and apologies given to tourists. Remember, tourists are gold. Treat us with a bit more respect!
Written July 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi there, thanks for taking the time to write a review. We appreciate your honest and real feedback regarding your recent visit to The Remarkables. We were overwhelmed with visitors on our opening day which did find us short staffed in some areas of our operation and we have since addressed that where practical to do so. Our intention is to remain a sustainable business going forward which has forced a re-think on certain aspects of our business and unfortunately removal of the chain fitting service is one result. As for the arrogance of the staff member you encountered, we have reinforced with all staff your experience and how our engagement (or lack there of in this case) does impact on the guest experience. I sincerely hope this was an isolated case because it does not reflect our desire to provide the utmost in positive interactions at every point of contact we have with all guests at all times.
Written July 23, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

McF352
Sydney, Australia50 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
Remarkables has some nice ski runs for all levels, not a huge selection but ok. The main problem is access. You can drive or go by bus. Either way, Queenstown has a major infrastructure problem with only one road in and out and it comes to a complete standstill morning and evening. If you drive you have to walk uphill from the car parks or wait a long time for a shuttle and you will probably have to fit chains. If you take the bus it is even worse- you need to book a ticket at least a week out as they sell out. If you manage to get a bus ticket there are incredible queues. We waited 1.5 hours and 2 hours respectively to get on a bus back to Queenstown. Not worth it. All up you spend more time waiting and travelling than skiing. There is also only one restaurant which has decent food selection but is packed and feels like a train station. Not a great experience overall.
Written July 1, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

S M
Sydney, Australia59 contributions
Jun 2023 • Family
If you are getting the Remarkables Bus - board it at the Queenstown Snow Centre, NOT the stops along the way.

We spent 5 days at the Remarkables ski resort from 26 June 2023. We booked the bus transfer each day to collect us from the Upper Stanley St / Blue Peaks stop (first stop after the Queenstown Snow Centre). This was a disaster - our first two days, the 8.30am bus we booked picked us up at 9.15am (only after all people at the Snow Centre had filled multiple buses did a bus with spare seats stop at Upper Stanley St). On the third day, the bus didn't even stop at Upper Stanley. We had booked an 8.30am bus and got picked up at 10am (by a 9.30am bus).

The last two days we walked down to the Snow Centre and then had no problems. Although we felt sorry for people waiting at Upper Stanley. The bus we were on from the Snow Centre had 16 spare seats yet still did not stop at Upper Stanley. I asked the bus driver when we arrived at the Remarkables why he didn't stop, and he said he just forgot.

The lesson here is just get on the bus at the Snow Centre. If you are staying near the Upper Stanley St stop / have booked bus to pick you up from there, just walk down the hill to the Snow Centre and save yourself the stress of not being picked up.
Written July 3, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Shamus
5 contributions
Jul 2020
The road up is long and slow with parking a bus trip away with a long line for the bus. Not too keen on the ski area as it was quite narrow with way to many people on it. . I found the other ski fields to be better.
Written August 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

justwaytoohard
97 contributions
Jul 2023 • Couples
I get it: this ski area is having a rotten season. All the hype,marketing, spin and noise won't hide that. The reality is that snow cover is poor. So what do they do? Jam as many skiers and tourists as possible into the mountain. Sell lift passes when there is no transport to get people up to the ski area. So, here's some tips: whatever the ski depth advertised: take 20cm off that. Whatever percentage of runs are open, deduct 30%. Assume runs will be seriously crowded as a result. Assume 20 minute wait times for some lifts and at least 10 minutes everywhere. Assume only one central area, where you'll wait 20 minutes for a coffee and pay over NZD10 for a litre of water. Assume a 15 minute wait for the loo if you are identifying as female. Assume that you'll pay up to $85 for a bus ride up the mountain, because the advertised $45 fares are long gone due to a driver shortage (apparently). Add that to the expensive (for what you get) lift ticket price, every day. Assume 45 minutes ride to get onto the slopes, or up to 2 hours if you take a car and they want chains fitted. Finally, assume a poky little unconnected ski area. Then...hope it snows. A lot. The only "remarkable" thing is the gap between the marketing and the reality.
Written July 20, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sassylassy2015
Darwin, Australia25 contributions
Jul 2022
Awful. 1.5 hour wait in line BOTH WAYS for bus. Over 1 hour wait to hire gear then 1 hour to return it. And had to pay to store it overnight when 'free' storage reached capacity.- do not follow advice at snow centre in town to hire gear up the mountain cause its easier! Mainly young staff working 'the season' were run off their feet and so many were new and still learning basics (like where the toilets were). Very unfair and dangerous when you consider they are equipping people for a risky sport. And I don't buy the 'we're short staffed cause of covid' line. if we had been forewarned of the wait times we could have at least made an informed choice to go there or not. Worst experience skiiing ever. i would never advise anyone to ski here.
Written July 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Steffen C
Christchurch, New Zealand103 contributions
Jul 2022 • Family
We went skiing at Remarkables today, and it is our favorite ski area in Queenstown.

The past couple of days we have not been impressed with the bus service. People working there are friendly and do a good job.
The service starts at 8am, and today we wanted to get away earlier than yesterday to was in the queue at 7.40am. Queue was already long, and we probably got on bus no 6 or 7 - at 9am…
One of the staff told us they have 13 buses on each mountain, so I don’t understand why they don’t have more buses ready at 8am.
The bus ride made things worse - driver gave a lift to a friend, and because our bus was stopping along the way to pick up more passengers, the bus behind us overtook us. At the base of the mountain we again stopped for more passengers, which basically is fine, but again we were passed by another bus. We ended up spending just over 1 hour on the bus.

Ski rental works a charm, so we were ready on the slopes at 10.30am after leaving our hotel at 7.30am.

If a return trip to the mountain would take 130 min (which is probably to high an average), a bus should be at the start every 10 min, but ideally there would be more buses ready at 8am since that is when the massive queue is there.
Written July 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jaymee B
1 contribution
Jul 2021 • Friends
We tried skiing for the first time at the Remarkables and took the group lessons. On our second day, we were very fortunate to have Lewis Barton as our instructor. He was very experienced, gave excellent advice that was easy to follow and was incredible at building confidence. We progressed so much (and our confidence grew so much) under the guidance of Lewis. We would highly recommend Lewis for anyone looking to book private ski lessons.
Written July 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Martin B
Auckland, New Zealand141 contributions
Oct 2020
My partner and I are both near-beginner skiers and we had an awesome day with Alan, an English ski instructor. We were put in a small group of 5 and it is fair to say that I learnt more in less than 4 hours than the sum total of previous ski trips. He was extremely patient and friendly. His progressions helped build up our levels of confidence and by the end of the lesson, I could ski on one leg. Lots of good easy ski areas for beginners. The coach trip was incredible with amazing views. Thank you to SnowBizz for the equipment hire. I recommend that you get your gear the day before rather than wait until you are up the mountain.
Written October 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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