Auckland will welcome a flagship InterContinental hotel in 2022 with IHG and Precinct Properties, the largest city centre real estate owner in New Zealand, signing an agreement to open InterContinental Auckland.

InterContinental Auckland will enjoy an unrivalled location on the city’s waterfront, with a halo address at 1 Queen Street that will inevitably become a destination in its own right. It will complete the $1 billion Commercial Bay mixed-use development, which boasts the largest concentration of high-quality retail facilities in the city and a new 39-level office tower with 39,000-sq-m of premium office space.

The world-class waterfront development is also destined to become Auckland’s newest, shopping, dining and social hub, offering a vast range of food and beverage outlets that are perfectly complemented by the hotel’s luxury dining experience, which includes all-day dining and bars.

The hotel will be dedicated to those who appreciate and enjoy The InterContinental Life, featuring the brand’s signature Club InterContinental experience, as well as a gym and meeting facilities. In order to give guests an unparalleled experience that shows off the best of the ‘City of Sails’, 90 per cent of the hotel’s 244 guest rooms will offer water views.

Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s senior director of development – Australasia, said: “It’s high time Auckland got a taste of the InterContinental Life, so we are very excited about this announcement. Being part of such an iconic mixed-use development ensures the hotel, dining, retail and commercial components form a symbiotic relationship. Together with Precinct Properties, we will deliver a distinctive product that inspires those travellers who are looking for the InterContinental understated luxury, both in the leisure and corporate space.”

Scott Pritchard, chief executive officer at Precinct Properties, said: “Commercial Bay is set to transform Auckland’s CBD and reshape the waterfront area in the heart of the city, so it’s absolutely fitting that one of the world’s best-known luxury brands is part of this world-class development. The addition of the InterContinental Life further solidifies Commercial Bay as a truly mixed-use precinct, and we’re very proud to partner with IHG to bring this flagship property to life.”

InterContinental Auckland will benefit from convenient access to corporate and leisure demand generators including, the New Zealand International Convention Centre, Viaduct Harbour, Britomart precinct, Wynyard Quarter, Vector Arena, the international cruise ship terminal, Sky City and Sky City Casino. It sits at the heart of Auckland’s transport infrastructure which includes train, bus and ferry, as well as being just 20km to Auckland Airport, the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand.

InterContinental Auckland will be the second for the brand in New Zealand, after InterContinental Wellington, and adds an important piece to IHG’s Australasia luxury credentials, complementing InterContinental Hotels in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Sanctuary Cove, as well as the 194 globally.

IHG currently has 48 hotels operating under four brands in Australasia, including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, with another 22 in the pipeline, including Hotel Indigo, Even Hotels and voco. - TradeArabia News Service