Holiday inn express opens in Port moresby

Port Moresby’s hotel boom is continuing with the opening of the 199-room, budget-priced Holiday Inn Express. The hotel opened in the Waigani district in April, right next to the existing 153room Holiday Inn and its 86 apartments.

Majority-owned by PNG interests, the threestar property is managed by one of the world’s largest hotel companies, IHG (InterContinental Hotels), which also manages the Crowne Plaza in Port Moresby’s CBD.

Worldwide, IHG manages nearly 2400 Holiday Inn Express hotels, but the Port Moresby Holiday Inn Express is the first of the brand to open in the Australasia/ Pacific region. (Holiday Inn Express is set to debut in Australia next year).

“The Holiday Inn Express brand is what we call a select service hotel,” says Tim Pollock, area general manager for IHG in PNG. “It provides everything you need and nothing you don’t.”

The room rate (the Holiday Inn Express is more than PGK100 cheaper a night than the adjacent Holiday Inn) is kept to a minimum by only providing the services that guests want, while still providing a high level of comfort and amenity.

There is no porter service or room service as this is not what Holiday Inn Express guests are looking for, according to the hotel chain.

But there is a small dining menu, and breakfast and internet are included in the room rate.

Every room is the same size - 22 square metres - and, while compact, provides everything the business traveller on a budget needs: an ensuite, TV and work desk.

There are two sleeping configurations — queen bed or two single beds.

“Overseas, our main competition is quite varied, with the brand able to compete very well against other hotels in the mid-scale market,” Pollock says.

The room rate is kept to a minimum by only providing

the services that guests want, while still providing a high level of comfort and

amenity.

“In Port Moresby, we’re competing with hotels like the Lamana, Gateway and Ela Beach,” he says.

During the PNG LNG project construction boom, hotel tariffs in Port Moresby rose significantly in response to higher demand. With the boom over, and some hotels experiencing lower occupancy rates, Pollock thinks hotel prices in the capital are no longer over inflated. ■