new $5m wing<\/a> comprising 12 rooms in February 2024, taking its total number of rooms to 47.<\/p>\nGarrett said its new wing helped to meet the growing expectations of its guests and enabled it to host more than 3000 extra visitors annually.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The Regent of Rotorua boutique hotel’s premium wing, which was completed in 2024. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Garrett said it refurbished its 15 classic wing rooms in 2024 and its 10 annex wing rooms last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent over $50,000 per room, giving a total of well over $1.25m for the 25 rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garrett said it also upgraded its outdoor pool area last year.<\/p>\n
This year, it would be refurbishing its reception wing, including 10 rooms and the club lounge, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur owners are committed to continuing to invest in Rotorua and focusing on enhancing our guest experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sudima Rotorua<\/p>\n
Sudima Hotel founder and chief executive Sudesh Jhunjhnuwala said booking levels at Sudima Rotorua had strengthened steadily in the past 18 to 24 months, with occupancy tracking \u201cclose to pre-Covid performance\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe remaining gap largely reflects the slower return of the Chinese inbound market to New Zealand; however, this segment is steadily rebuilding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jhunjhnuwala said the domestic market was expected to continue its gradual growth. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll other key markets are now at \u2013 or exceeding \u2013 pre-Covid levels. The recovery has also seen a shift in mix, with higher-yielding international visitors leading growth, particularly from Australia and North America.”<\/p>\n
Jhunjhnuwala said the hotel had benefited from \u201csignificant reinvestment\u201d in the past two years, with further refurbishment planned in winter.<\/p>\n
Recent work included refurbishing selected guest rooms, refreshing shared spaces, and maintenance and technology improvements.<\/p>\n
Pullman Rotorua<\/p>\n
Pullman Rotorua general manager Robert Andren said the hotel had experienced \u201cstrong growth\u201d since opening in 2020 \u2013 Rotorua\u2019s first five-star international hotel \u2013 and was forecasting further growth.<\/p>\n
The hotel was planning upgrades to its public spaces, including a refresh of Barrel & Co restaurant and work on meeting and events facilities in the second half of the year, he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Pullman]()
Pullman Rotorua opened in 2020 as the city’s first five-star international branded hotel. Photo \/ Tessa Chrisp<\/p>\n
It was also exploring adding a new outdoor leisure area designed to \u201ccomplement Rotorua\u2019s strong geothermal and wellness identity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese initiatives reflect a long-term commitment to the property and to maintaining Pullman Rotorua\u2019s position at the top end of the local market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua<\/p>\n
Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua general manager Rajesh Dahiya said its transition to the EVT hotel family\u2019s Independent Collection in 2022 \u201crepositioned the property\u201d, with investment in targeted guest rooms and conferencing upgrades.<\/p>\n
The return of international visitors and strong domestic conference demand had driven Rotorua occupancy rates in the past two years, Dahiya said.<\/p>\n
By the numbers<\/p>\n
RotoruaNZ\u2019s commercial visitor accommodation dashboard showed 63.6% of accommodation units in Rotorua were occupied in December.<\/p>\n
Lodge rooms\/villas had the highest occupancy rate at 75.9%, followed by hotel rooms at 73.1% and motel units at 68.8%.<\/p>\n
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said occupancy data showed there was \u201cclear and growing demand for quality accommodation in Rotorua\u201c.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to see operators investing significantly in their properties to meet that demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"RotoruaNZ]()
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson pictured in 2024. Photo \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n
Their investment confidence signalled that Rotorua \u201ccontinues to be a must-visit destination that is positioned for sustainable growth\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Wilson said Rotorua, Auckland and Wellington were part of a $2m campaign targeting visitors from China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n
The Trip.com North Island campaign launched in December and would run until May, with early results showing \u201cstrong engagement\u201d.<\/p>\n
In January, the campaign generated 5779 direct flight bookings into Auckland International Airport, 8052 hotel bookings, 1222 attraction bookings, 260 tour bookings and 772 car rental bookings North Island-wide, Wilson said.<\/p>\n
Wilson said $2.5m was allocated to attract Australian visitors from the eastern seaboard in the \u201cfind your north\u201d campaign, involving 15 North Island destinations.<\/p>\n
He said early indicators were positive, with increased air bookings, accommodation stays and activity participation across the region.<\/p>\n
Wilson said Expedia reported Rotorua room night bookings increased 15.8% during the initial campaign period.<\/p>\n
The Rotorua Daily Post also attempted to contact Rotorua\u2019s Ibis and Novotel hotels for this story.<\/p>\n
Megan Wilson<\/a> is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Millennium Hotel Rotorua announced last week it had completed its two-year, \u201cmultimillion-dollar\u201d refurbishment. All 228 rooms and suites,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[806,138,4190,12474,305,6735,20285,78,5983,4380,111,139,69,170944,19329,32258,38950,37169,1327,12633,3590],"class_list":["post-315011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-as","tag-business","tag-demand","tag-dollars","tag-have","tag-hotel","tag-hotels","tag-in","tag-levels","tag-millions","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-occupancy","tag-precovid","tag-reaches","tag-rebounds","tag-refurbishments","tag-rotorua","tag-spent","tag-visitor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}