The airport hotel that’s also a resort with seven pools
This revamped Fiji property is only 20 minutes from touch-down or take-off, making it an ideal stopover for island-hoppers.
It was the late, great Douglas Adams who wrote, “It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression ‘as pretty as an airport’ … some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort.” Ouch. It’s a merciless assessment and one that rang pretty true in his era. Adams, author of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, died in 2001, but were he still with us he might have some cause to reassess his judgment.
I’d like to have had his views on airport hotels and I warrant they’d have been damning, too. But there’s been a significant shift in this category over recent years towards boutique and multi-starred brands and a sense that an adjacent airport stay isn’t an unimaginative cop-out or even a punishment but makes a lot of sense in this time of frequent flight delays, cancellations and other annoying palaver.
Then there’s the halfway solution in the shape of a property close to arrivals and departures that has resort-style facilities and acts as a landing pad for holiday activities, especially in Fiji where outer islands are within easy access by local flights, and scheduled catamaran and ferry services. And so it is at Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay, fortuitously placed amid gardens filled with palms, hibiscus, bougainvillea and frangipanis.
The revamped and extended property, previously Wailoaloa Beach Hotel, features seven pools in a water-lapped setting, and all just a 20-minute road trip from the airport. Still in the launch stage, it’s a triumph of white blocky architecture, oodles of space and landscaping, and completely unexpected in terms of ultra-contemporary style and generosity of space. The water-facing central quarter is all pools (nicely spaced for kids, adults, families), swim-up bars, and lagoons, lounging nooks, cabanas, and beach and bay views from lawns and sandy stretches. In the newly built south wing, ground-floor abodes open straight off terraces into semi-private plunge pools that flow into an aquamarine-tiled swimming channel, also reached via steps at strategic intervals on the opposite side.
The open-sided lobby is huge, with a long, lean water feature, ceilings of ceremonial proportions, backlit displays of artefacts in recessed nooks, cocoon-like cane light hangings, and cleverly composed clusters of funky seating for bar and food service. Tip: try the “unloaded” mocktails made with ginger and fruity syrups.
Harvest is the main restaurant, featuring a generous buffet breakfast, a la carte menus for dinner and loads of light filtering through wide-spaced areas, plus terrace tables. Opposite is La Bottega, which could have been uplifted from a backstreet of Rome’s trendiest precincts, were it not for the wide smiles of Fijian staff. There’s a proper pizza oven and excellent pasta of the likes of wagyu pappardelle plus the genuinely warm service that’s consistent through the hotel. For a coffee, smoothie, panini or pastry, try grab-and-go Bean Bar Cafe tucked to the right of the main hotel entry and note the groovy floor tiles. Azura Pool Bar is a light and bright casual concept and there’s a speakeasy-style 17.78 Whiskey Bar that’s sheer Manhattan in its style, swank and hint of secrecy in the “4pm-late” opening hours.
All 324 guestrooms and suites will come online by November, including family options. Top pick would be a one-bedroom king bed suite with ocean view and pool access. Design is streamlined in pale neutral shades with timber floors and finishes, Fijian artwork and weavings, and properly bright bedside reading lights. There aren’t many showy flounces but the bathrooms are sparkling and spacious, amply supplied with deliciously scented fig and feijoa unguents by Antipodes. The wall-mounted TV is huge and super-squishy beds are decked with excellent pillows. For now, there’s a tiny massage salon but a full-scale Mareqeti Spa with six treatment rooms plus a fitness centre are due to open by the end of the year. Also in the pipeline are Tutuvalu Kids Club and Urban Sugar Beach Club. Bring it all on.
In the know
Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa is an IHG hotel rated at four and a half stars; expect some ongoing building and landscaping works through 2024 during daylight hours by the entrance and around some guestroom wings. King and double standard rooms with balconies from FJD759 ($506) for two adults plus taxes and fees. Seasonal deals and packages available. The hotel is 5km from Nadi international airport. Join the free IHG Rewards program for best deals, upgrades and extras.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of IHG.
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