By MARAIA VULA
Holiday Inn Suva welcomes Grand Pacific Hotel’s opening saying it would assist in providing more accommodation as the demand increases in the capital.
Holiday Inn Suva general manager Preston Miskelly said the neigbouring hotels are offering different products.
In this case Grand Pacific Hotel’s entrance into the market will help the city in meeting the demand for accommodating international events and other services.
“GPH will assist us and our other key competitors in the hotel market,” Mr Miskelly said.
“We understand that GPH is a five-star product and that we are a four-star product we understand the difference.
“So there will be some people who will migrate from our hotel to GPH the one and only five-star property and we accept that will happen.”
The restored hotel is set to open in the second quarter this year.
But Mr Miskelly believes what sets Holiday Inn apart from the iconic Grand Pacific is the staff whom its guests have developed a strong relationship with.
“They (staff) give our guests the feeling of being at home, they remember our guests’ names, making sure they know how their food is served and coffee to be made extra,” he said.
“That is something GPH won’t be able to compete with in the early stages and we have the recognition of our guests we remember them and we expect that to retaining our loyal clients.”
He said they already have packages and local rates available as well that are suitable for its target market.
“Certainly GPH will have large conference rooms that will be able to secure international events which at the moment Suva doesn’t have a hotel market that can actually cater for those.”
Renovation
Meanwhile, renovation upgrades at Holiday Inn Suva cannot go unnoticed. To this Mr Miskelly said is expected to complete this March.
“Renovations are our big focus and also trying to deliver a great guest experience in amongst those renovations,” he said.
“ It’s a constant challenge and we feel we are doing well at the moment and continue to focus on it.
“Our renovation plans at the moment we are close to completion of our function room or Banyan room that will be completed on March 15.
Restaurant upgrades
“Also our restaurant Victoria’s has been under construction since Boxing Day and it will be reopened on April 15. The restaurant will be renamed Sirocco being a Mediterranean style restaurant.
“We will serve Mediterranean cuisine which is great Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Turkish, French, Moroccan extra.
“This also gives us the ability to do themed buffets and also incorporating some of our Mediterranean dishes into our pool side offering.
“In terms of our rooms we are currently renovating our mockup room which is one of our renovation projects and it will be completed in March.”
From left: Edubytes chief executive and director of PASS Michael Farrugia, General Manager for Holiday Inn Preston Miskelly and Fiji International Jazz & Blues Festival director Billy Te Kahika at the Holiday Inn, Suva yesterday. Photo: JUSTINE MANNAN