New hotels in time for World Cup

Metro Hotel Auckland is to be built on the corner of Pitt and Vincent Sts.

Two new multimillion-dollar luxury hotels will be open in Auckland in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

A four-star, 170-room hotel will be built by mid-2011 on the corner of Pitt and Vincent Sts in the CBD.

It will be managed by a subsidiary of the Australian Transmetro Corporation, which has 15 properties in Australia and has been looking to move across the Tasman for some years, chief operating officer George Bedwani says.

Opportunities in Wellington and Christchurch were also considered for the company's first hotel in New Zealand, but Auckland was always the main target.

"It's a welcome addition to our portfolio," said Mr Bedwani.

With annual visitor arrivals from Australia topping one million for the first time in the year to May, there were obvious benefits for Metro Hotels' long-term business growth, he said.

Two weeks ago the Herald reported that one of the country's richest tribes, Tainui, was working on a commercial deal to build a hotel at Auckland International Airport.

Yesterday, the airport confirmed it had signed a joint venture with Accor Hospitality and Tainui Group Holdings to develop a $65 million, four-star hotel. As lead developers Tainui would have a 70 per cent stake in the 260-room Novotel.

Tainui's chief executive officer, Mike Pohio, said the hotel would complement the tribe's two hotels in Hamilton.

Tainui's Te Arataura executive leader Tuku Morgan has said investing in Auckland was about regaining an economic foothold in the city which was lost after the tribe's lands were confiscated in the 1860s.

Manukau City Mayor Len Brown said he was excited about what the development meant for his region.