Photos by Sione Vuki

A fire gutted a large part of the Paradise International Hotel in Neiafu, Vava'u, in the early hours of this morning, November 13.

Early reports said that the administration wing including the offices, restaurant, kitchen and entertainment areas of the hotel were destroyed in the fire that could be seen from around the harbour.

The Neiafu Fire Station received a call at 12:45 am from one of the neighbours to the hotel and the fire fighters were able to stop the fire spreading to the accommodation wings of the 48 rooms-hotel. The Neiafu Fire Brigade consists of three fire trucks and 11 men.

The wings housing the guests were still intact according to a Neiafu resident, but it is not known how many guests were there at the time of the fire.

A whale watch operator, Ongo Kaihea, from Sailing Safaris, Neiafu, said he saw the fire last night, and this morning some guests who were still staying at the hotel had come to the Mermaid Bar for breakfast. There were no reports of injuries.

Neighbours to the hotel the Filikitonga family who own the Vava'u Guest House across the road said they could feel the heat of the blaze.

Takilesi Filikitonga (15) said it was after midnight when he heard a bang "like an explosion" and rang outside and saw the start of the fire. "It began from the kitchen," he said.

He woke up his family and went to watch the fire. Many people were calling the fire brigade on their cell phones. "The fire went down the side of the kitchen and spread to the rest, the conference room and the bar," he said.

His mother Vaiola Filikitonga said she was woken by her son and they could feel the heat of the big blaze from across the road.

The fire brigade stopped the fire at the conference room before it spread to the wings with the rooms.

The neighbours "saw the security man and the manager, Toni, ushering a few palangi guests out when the fire began."

Puluno Toke, the Director of Tourism, in Vava'u said today that there were only three guests staying in the hotel last night.

"I spoke to one guest, an Australian man, who said he was woken by one of the hotel workers who rang him from her home because she could see the fire from Talau," he said.

Puluno believed the fire at Neiafu's oldest hotel, would have little impact on the tourism industry because, "most visitors come for activities and there are better places to stay," he said. The owner had not been to the hotel for over two years, and it was run by a young manager, Tony Sia Momua.

The Paradise International Hotel was originally built in the late 1960s and was extended and redeveloped during the 1990s.