Rydges Harbourview Hotel, Auckland
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After a process taking a number of years, a revitalised and considerably expanded Rydges Harbourview Hotel in central Auckland is open for business.
The new hotel is the culmination of years of planning and construction that has blended old and new to give Auckland its most up to date hotel accommodation, on stream in time for an expected post-recession upturn in travel and the rush of bookings now beginning in time for next year's Rugby World Cup.
Originally opened in December 1998, Rydges Hotel offered 188 four star accommodation rooms on a site in Hobson St. Stage one of an extensive upgrade was completed in 2008, bringing the existing rooms up to a 4.5 star deluxe standard, along with completing a number of 'back of house' projects such as a new internal laundry.
Now the second stage of expansion has been finished with the opening of the luxurious 10-level Hobson Tower, joining the existing hotel to form a 267-room urban oasis in the heart of Auckland.
All rooms enjoy views of the inner city, many looking over the Sky Tower, while the Harbour View rooms enjoy sweeping views of the Auckland Harbour Bridge and the Waitemata Harbour. Each room includes a specialised workstation with broadband access and a 32 inch LCD television.
General manager Hotel Operations for Rydges Hotel and Resorts – New Zealand and Fiji, Rhys Jones says planning for the project started nearly three years ago.
"There was an old four storey office building on Hobson street in front of the hotel which was purchased for two main reasons:
1) As a defensive measure to ensure no one else could secure the site and put up a disaster of an apartment block in front of the hotel
2) To allow for future growth of the hotel.
"A feasibility study showed us we could gain a great deal of additional revenue by creating more accommodation rooms and conference spaces without the need for additional back of house areas and plant, such as kitchens, offices and maids' rooms.
But our first step was a full upgrade of the existing accommodation tower. Then we started on the new building about 18 months ago."
Considerable challenges
As would be expected with large scale upgrading of a hotel still open for business, followed by the demolition of an adjoining building and construction of a completely new one, there were plenty of challenges.
"Effectively, we opened up the Hobson Street side of the hotel," said Mr Jones. "We closed down our conference floor and relocated the restaurant on four occasions during the build. It was a full building site and it certainly did impact on normal revenue flows."
He gives a great deal of the credit for the operation's success to his hotel team. "They were nothing but superb through the entire process."
Rhys Jones is understandably pleased with the final outcome, reeling off a number of new features of which he is particularly proud. "We have a roof top venue that will cater for up to 150 guests with stunning harbour views that will knock your socks off.
We've created public spaces that certainly stand out amongst the norm.
"The introduction of a contemporary grill concept such as STK House Bar & Grill, along with STK House Bar and Barista on the Corner, are operations that can stand on their own two feet and provide a tangible difference to the market.
"There is now a brand new state of the art, fully teched conference venue, with nine conference rooms that offer a high degree of flexibility for our customers. It can cater for up to 350 guests in theatre style. We have upgraded our broadband service to provide 'matrix like' speed, and free broadband is provided in all public spaces. Our new accommodation rooms are tailored to the corporate and conference markets."
To guests who attended the official opening on an evening in mid May, Mr Jones described Rydges Harbour View as a hotel of "contemporary elegance." He continued: "I'm very confident this development has been timed to perfection. We have an economy on the upswing and a wonderful opportunity to showcase New Zealand tourism."
Rydges Harbour View is owned by New Bay Investments Ltd of which Dr H.C. Tan is the executive director. Rydges is the operator and has been with NBI for more than 13 years.
