New 4.5star hotel being prepared for fitting out
INVERCARGILL’S newest 4.5star hotel is taking shape as contractors are working at full steam to make everything ready for opening in August.
Located on the corner of Dee and Don Sts in the heart of Invercargill, the ILT’s new Langlands Hotel will offer 78 suites, five food outlets and conference rooms for its guests and the wider community.
Communications manager Emma Hunter said it was planned to have a staged opening of the facility to ensure the good operation of all the parts.
‘‘Accommodation is our priority. So we’re going to start from the bottom up.
‘‘We want to make sure we have exceptional service for everyone. So the team will start to come to the site in June to start training and get stuff up and ready to open.’’
She said the plan was to open the first three floors in August which would include all of its accommodation, in addition to the Two Doors Down bar and Brew’d cafe.
Then, in the following months, it was expected to open the Niche laneway bar, the fusion restaurant Meld and the 360 rooftop bar.
Mrs Hunter said they hoped to have the facility completely open by the end of the year.
She was excited the accommodation floors were being cleaned for fitting out.
‘‘All the suites were designed with Murihiku in mind. The carpet which has [the perception of] flax water . . . the natural woods and the timber of our beautiful landscapes and you see some other nature tones and greens as well, a nod for our beautiful region.’’
Mrs Hunter has discussed with the manager of Southland Museum and Art Gallery having some of their pieces exhibited in the new development. The rooms would have art by local Trudy Burdon.
There would be 80 parttime and fulltime staff when the hotel was fully operational and about half of the staff had been recruited, she said.
‘‘A lot of those gaps are specialised chefs so we will pushing for [finding some] in the next couple of weeks.’’
She admitted she was biased but believed the Southland community would love and enjoy the new facility.
‘‘The hotel was designed with the community at the forefront. It is all about them and we are excited about how it is taking shape.’’