Dateline Hotel expansion starts soon [1]
Saturday, June 30, 2001 - 10:00. Updated on Friday, January 29, 2016 - 18:37.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 1, June 2001.
The agreement for the long awaited renovation and expansion program of the International Dateline Hotel in Nuku‘alofa was finally sealed in April and the work will start at end of September.
Simote Po‘uliva‘ati, the General Manager, said that the multi-million project would upgrade the hotel to a 3-star level, while two new wings of a 4-star level would be constructed, and a new beach to be established at the front of the hotel.
“Stage I is the renovating of the existing facilities and the building a new 54 room wing at the back of the hotel.” Simote said that the new wing would include six suites and one Royal Suite, “there will be a Chinese Restaurant and a Western Restaurant in that wing.”
Simote said that once Stage I was completed they planned to build a man-made beach, which would involve the building of a breakwater closer to the edge of the reef to protect the shores from strong waves. Guests will access the beach through a bridge over Hala Vuna. “Vuna Road will still be used by the public but there is a plan to divert the traffic,” he said.
New ownership
Stage II of the project is the construction of a second wing on the other side of the road to the east of the hotel on the site of the manager’s house, and will accommodate 32 rooms, an Administration Office and a Fitness Gym. When the construction work is completed in four years time the hotel will have 160 rooms.
Tonga had to attract foreign investment in order for the Dateline Hotel to embark on this multi-million program. The People’s Republic of China is financing the project through the Huawen Enterprise Development Corporation, which holds 49 per cent shares of a new company the Jan Full International Dateline Hotel Limited. The Government of Tonga holds the other 51 per cent of the new company.
Simote said that under the new ownership of the hotel, he would remain as the General Manager, and there would be a Chinese Managing Director, “who will come and go, and there will be a Chinese Chef, an accountant and an advisor who will work here permanently.”