Holiday Inn Wellington Opens

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. October 14, 2008

JANUARY 25, 2007. Wellington's largest hotel, the $80 million Holiday Inn Wellington, opened its doors today, heralding a new era in stylish, mid-market accommodation in the capital. The 280-room Holiday Inn Wellington which rises 17 stories high above Featherston Street, is purpose built as a landmark hotel in the heart of the city.

Its position adjacent to Parliament, surrounded by the cluster of new office blocks emerging at the northern end of the CBD and the closest hotel to the Westpac Stadium gives it strong appeal to both the corporate and leisure markets.

The arrival of the Holiday Inn name in Wellington - one of the world's strongest and most widely recognised hotel brands - will also help strengthen the city's profile with international visitors who seek familiar leisure brands when travelling away from home.

The brainchild of leading Auckland property company Melview Developments and one of the capital's leading architectural firms, Studio Pacific Architecture, the hotel makes the most of its CBD site close to the harbour with angled vertical fins orientating most rooms to capture plenty of light and expansive views.

Melview currently has over 1800 hotel rooms either constructed, under construction or planned to be completed within the next five years, marking a significant increase in New Zealand's inbound tourism capacity.

Reflecting a strong commitment to good design, most rooms look out across the harbour towards the Western hills or over the CBD, and many have balconies, an unusual feature in a Wellington hotel.

The first Holiday Inn in the North Island and one of the most innovative Holiday Inns in Australasia, the property has been meticulously designed to offer stylish, relaxed comfort.

The 280 guest rooms range from standard rooms through to 19 suites and, at the top of the building, a presidential suite. All are furnished with luxurious fittings, bold contemporary fabrics and the deep, comfortable beds are smothered in pillows, cushions and throws.

Guest rooms offer fully equipped kitchenettes while distinctive glass-walled bathrooms enhance natural light. The higher grade rooms also offer LCD TV's, and DVD players together with a guest library of discs.

Holiday Inn Wellington is the capital's only hotel to offer a spa, sauna, exercise room and 17 metre lap pool combination.

On the ground floor is Plate, a relaxed Latin-style restaurant with one of New Zealand's most interesting chefs Sarah Ginella, at the helm. Opening onto an alfresco area - again unusual for a Wellington hotel - Plate is set to rapidly become one of the city's foodie landmarks with its classic retro-chic interior and vibrant menu.

Holiday Inn Wellington General Manager Heather Idoine-Riley says: 'This hotel is not what you might expect. It's very contemporary and design-led. We're delighted this strong design philosophy has produced such a distinctive, yet supremely comfortable and relaxed, Wellington-style property.'

Stretching across the second floor is a suite of four conference and meeting rooms, all with floor to ceiling windows flooding the area with natural light - another unusual feature in a central city hotel.

From today until mid March, the hotel will operate a soft opening phase as the final 10 per cent of rooms, together with the conference facilities, are completed.