Wānaka’s Edgewater hotel general manager Leigh Stock has turned the full circle returning to take over the lead role after an absence of ten years.

“I left Edgewater in 2014 seeking new opportunities for professional growth after a long and successful stint since 2003 and was fortunate to work with Trojan Holdings as Hermitage GM at Mount Cook and later with Skyline Enterprises managing their accommodation portfolio. Working for both respected and established tourism icons gave me insight into the back-end workings of larger multi-faceted companies particularly around governance and decision making,” says Leigh.

In 2022 Leigh joined the FIFA Women’s World Cup team as senior accommodation manager responsible for the hotel selection for participating teams, referees, VIPs and the workforce.

“I inspected and evaluated over 70 properties across New Zealand and eventually contracted 40 of them for the global event. For me the key takeaway was knowledge gained working with multiple hotel operations to deliver a seamless result for FIFA.”

The call to return to Edgewater came in late 2023 from the hotel board chairman who convinced Leigh to take up the reigns again.

“My family and I had remained living in Wānaka during the past ten years and Edgewater has always been a special place for me so it felt like the right move to make. I am lucky to again be leading the hotel through a significant refurbishment,” he says. “The challenge of ensuring a customer focused culture whilst carrying out extensive building works is one I am well experienced in. It’s exciting times at Edgewater.”

LEADING EDGE

Edgewater has had a prominent place in Wānaka’s tourism portfolio since opening in 1986. The 103-room hotel, situated on ten acres of pristine lakefront land, is considered one of Wānaka’s tourism jewels having retained private ownership and independent status.

“Edgewater is a mature member of Wānaka’s tourism community and our long-established relationships with trade partners globally assists the local regional tourist organisation (RTO) with their offshore markets,” says general manager Leigh Stock. “Seeing the continued growth of Wānaka’s tourism providers is pleasing as having a nucleus of active operators has always been this destination’s challenge.”

Edgewater’s current refurbishment programme will ensure the lakeside property continues to serve Wānaka for years to come.

“Our guests will be greeted by new furnishings and colour schemes with a major part of this project being infrastructure improvements. Double glazing, mechanical ventilation and fire suppression work make up a large part of the investment by our owners. This work is inter-generational for the hotel and really sets us up into the future as Wānaka’s premier hotel.”