Serving the Regulars,
and the Travellers, since 1867
Luggate Hotel has been looking after travellers, locals and workers since the days of the Central Otago gold rush. What started as a rough wooden pub beside the road is now a solid schist landmark that’s been pouring beers for well over a century.
Back in 1867, when the goldfields between Wānaka and Cromwell were busy with alluvial diggings, a simple timber hotel went up here, known as the Albion Hotel. It was built to serve miners, carriers and early settlers moving through the district.
Like many country pubs of the time, it did more than just sell beer. The hotel owned land across the road where drovers could yard stock on the way to market, and horse sales and farm auctions were a regular feature – all good for business and for building a community hub.
In the early 1880s, new owner Thomas Trevathan took over the Albion and set about upgrading it. He replaced the old timber building with the schist stone hotel that still stands on the site today – a sturdier, more substantial home for travellers, locals and the growing farming community.
Originally, the interior would have been a maze of small rooms:
a main bar where everyone drank standing up
separate sitting rooms for men and women
a dining room
tiny bedrooms with just enough space for a bed and a hook for your coat
Out the back were stables and outhouses, supporting the steady flow of horses, wagons and stock through Luggate.
As the gold rush faded and farming took over, the hotel remained the social heart of the settlement. Over the decades the inside of the pub changed dramatically, with walls opened up and rooms combined.
By the late 20th century the maze of little spaces had become two main areas – a front bar and a dining room – along with a generous garden bar out the back that’s now a favourite on sunny afternoons. became the Luggate Tavern, reflecting its role as a rural community pub rather than a traditional coaching inn. The Albion name lives on in local sport through the Luggate Albion Cricket Club, while the building itself continues under the Luggate Hotel banner.
Today, Luggate Hotel is the oldest pub in the area and the closest one to Wānaka Airport – still offering exactly what it did in the early days: a meal, a drink and a place to stay for people passing through.
The stone exterior has changed very little since the 1880s. Inside, the details are more modern and the crowd is a blend of locals, tradies, skiers, road-trippers and music fans. But the feel is the same as it’s always been – friendly, down-to-earth hospitality in a building with a lot of stories in its walls.