CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL | COLOMBO AND ARMAGH ST CNR | 17L | 70 Metres | Refurbishment Completed

New Christchurch Crowne Plaza launching with conference spaces



The new Crowne Plaza in Christchurch's repaired and redeveloped ex-Forsyth Barr House, which is the second tallest building in the city post-earthquakes.

The Crowne Plaza Christchurch is on track for reopening mid-year and will include four event and conferencing spaces.

The hotel overlooking Victoria Square at 764 Colombo St will reopen in the redeveloped former Forsyth Barr House which was damaged in the 2011 earthquakes.

The 17-level hotel will be the city's largest. It is the second tallest building in Christchurch after the Rendezvous Hotel in Gloucester St, and one of a handful of high rises remaining in the central city after the 2011 earthquakes.

The 204 new rooms and meeting spaces offering latest technology are online for bookings from August 1, 2017.

General manager Reinier Eulink​ said the kitchen had been completed and the first beds were being delivered.

He said he anticipated a slow start as occupancies grew over the next holiday period.

Eulink has returned to Christchurch to manage the opening of the hotel after five years leading Crowne Plaza Queenstown, when it won several travel and tourism awards.

Crowne meetings manager Phoebe Zwarts​ said the four spaces were designed with the flexibility to accommodate smaller meetings as well as large-scale presentations.

On the first floor of the hotel are three separate boardrooms featuring views of Victoria Square and a larger meeting space.

The Golden Fleece room seats up to 150 theatre or cocktail style, or 90 banquet style, and includes dual projection screens and built-in audio.

The Ellis, Gartner and Oram rooms cater for 10 to 14 guests around a boardroom.

Groups can combine two or all three of the rooms for a medium-sized space filled with natural light.

The names of the meeting spaces reflect the early history of Victoria Square. One of the city's first hotels, The Golden Fleece, once occupied the site of the Crowne Plaza.

Other spaces in the hotel available for event bookings include Café 1851 on the ground-floor, the 80-seat Market Place Restaurant, plus the more intimate first-floor hotel library.

The bedrooms also offer executive, deluxe and superior configurations.

Conference guests can stay connected online with free WiFi. Guest rooms include Samsung smart TV's with Bluetooth, and USB docks.

The hotel is close to city attractions, shops and entertainment, and Hagley Park.

Conference bookings can partake in the IHG Business Rewards programme. Points can be redeemed for free room nights, gift vouchers and other offers.

With the opening of the new Crowne Plaza Christchurch, IHG will operate six properties in New Zealand including Crowne Plaza hotels in Auckland, Queenstown and Christchurch, two Holiday Inn properties in Rotorua and at Auckland Airport, and the InterContinental Wellington.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/914...crowne-plaza-launching-with-conference-spaces

Interesting to know that the hotel will have its own library, never seen that in a hotel before.

Interesting reading this comment from the developer who would know as being in the industry:

Building a new hotel from scratch in the central city would not have been financially viable, he said.

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With the high cost of land, construction and operating costs of a new builld hotel of this size are too expensive now. This would explain why other large projects have not got off the ground. Lucky that the Distinction is being repaired as well. Still no news on the old Noahs Hotel still stuck in insurance disputes.

All finished now, looking very nice with both restaurant and the cafe open and the back side has been cleared of equipment and leveled off. There is no more 2nd level on site parking cars now drive to the rear to park.