It had been loved by Fijians and foreigners since it first opened its doors in May 1914.

back of the note. Suva taxi drivers seem as delighted as everyone else that the GPH is back in business.

In 1958, the Union Steamship Company relinquished its lease. Multiple owners came and went, often making unsympathetic additions and alterations, including, at one point, painting it pink. By the late 1980s, its decline seemed terminal. The doors closed in 1992.

A Fijian army officer I meet in the lobby tells me it only seems like a few years ago he was sleeping upstairs in the boarded-up hotel.

The military used it as a barracks for a while to protect it from squatters and vandals.

Luckily, in 2011, some handsome Pacific princes arrived and plans for the sleeping beauty’s kiss-of-life resurrection were released. Salvation appeared in the form of a joint venture between the Fiji National Provident Fund, Papua New Guinea Superannuation Fund and Lamana Development PNG.

Extensive research was done to ensure the accurate and sympathetic restoration of this heritage building. The Fiji National Trust acted as adviser to the project.

As a guest, I was impressed by the scale and skill of the restoration. The beauty of the colonial architecture has been restored and the lobby is once again filled with life. The addition of a modern accommodation building and a conference and banquet building on either side of the original hotel has been tastefully achieved.

I stayed in one of the modern rooms overlooking Suva Harbour and also in the Queen Elizabeth II Suite in the original hotel.

I had only to open the french doors on to the wide veranda overlooking Albert Park and slowly wave my hand to recapture a regal moment.

A photo of the Queen on the very same spot was hanging on my bedroom wall. But when I repeated the gesture there were no cheering throngs in the park, just some excited schoolchildren playing cricket. I was happy to watch them for a while before going downstairs to take my regular spot in a chair in the lobby.

I have always felt if you sit long enough near the entrance of an old hotel you will see an interesting parade of old and young, locals and visitors pass by you.

Once again, the lobby of the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva is a great place to watch the world go by from the comfort of a wicker chair. GETTING THERE fijiairways.com DETAILS