Rotorua: Lady spook fit for a duke

Rotorua's 112-year-old Princes Gate Hotel has the city's highest quality rating - 4 Qualmark stars - and is renowned for its 30s-style dinner shows. Photo / Jim Eagles

There's a ghost that haunts the gracious 112-year-old Princes Gate Hotel in Rotorua, a spectral woman whose very appearance has sent strong men fleeing white-faced from their beds. But I'm not afraid.

Partly that's because the ghost is always seen in a particular room, No29, and I'm not in it. Partly, too, it's because the ghost only appears to single men and I'm here with my wife.

But it's also because I'm tired after a busy day, mellow after a pleasant meal and relaxed in the comfortable atmosphere of this grand old lady of hospitality.

Still, given its remarkable history, it's no great surprise that this place should be haunted.

Today the hotel stands in the heart of the tourist mecca of Rotorua, but it was actually built 150km away in the gold-mining town of Waihi.

When it opened in 1897, it was called the New Central Hotel and it quickly became famous for its comfortable rooms, sumptuous decor and grand entertainment.

Waihi is a much quieter town today than it was at the height of the goldmining era, but the hotel would probably still be thriving there but for a fight over the price of beer.

Miners being a stroppy breed, they became outraged when in 1908 the nearby Rob Roy Hotel raised the cost of a drink and, as a gesture of protest, decided to vote for prohibition in the triennial liquor referendums that were held back then.

Much to their horror, the women also voted against booze, prohibition was carried by 86 votes and six months later the town went dry. The Central carried on as a private hotel, but business suffered - not only from the immediate loss in bar trade but also because travellers preferred staying somewhere they could get a drink. By 1917, business was so bad that the owners decided to move the hotel somewhere more profitable.

The building was dismantled, with each piece of timber carefully marked, taken by bullock cart to the railway station and carried to the fast-expanding tourist town of Rotorua.

By 1921, the jigsaw had been put back together and the hotel was ready to open for business under its new name, Princes Gate, after the archway erected just across the road to commemorate a visit the year before by the Prince of Wales.

Present owner Brett Marvelly recalls that when extensive renovations were carried out a few years ago, "we found the boards were still numbered and - an interesting indication of how smart they were in those days - all the cavities were filled with pumice as insulation".

Marvelly and wife Vlasta, who have worked in the hotel industry for many years, acquired the Princes Gate in 1986, selling everything they owned, including their car, to raise the money "because we saw the huge potential".

Over the years they've completely modernised the building - "today," Marvelly says proudly, "we've got 4 Qualmark stars, which makes this the highest-rated hotel in Rotorua" - while painstakingly preserving the elegant olde worlde atmosphere.

At the same time they've introduced a new tradition of dinner shows - "taking the hotel back to the 30s when people went to dinner and were entertained" - which have proved extremely popular.

Of course, an added benefit from that has been the emergence of their daughter Elizabeth, who started singing at the hotel when she was about 12, as an international singing sensation. "She stills sings here from time to time," says her proud father.

And then there's the ghost. "I don't really believe in ghosts and I've never seen anything myself," Marvelly declares firmly.

"But I have seen three or four instances where we've had white-faced people check out of the hotel a couple of days early after saying they've seen a ghost.

"I've no idea what the background is, but what adds a bit of believability to the story is that they all say the ghost is a woman - who comes straight in through the windows - and before we did the renovations that room was the women's ablution block."

Fortunately, Marvelly has come up with a cure. "She has only ever appeared to single young men, so now we only put married couples in that room ... and we haven't had a problem."

I certainly didn't have a problem. I had a great night's sleep.

* * *

Rotorua's old attractions still appeal

There's a huge range of new attractions in Rotorua these days - everything from Freefall Xtreme to the revamped Te Puia - but that shouldn't lead visitors to ignore the things that made the city famous in the first place.

The Government Gardens, just over the road from the Princes Gate hotel, are a beautiful place to wander and admire the flowers and the growing number of monumental sculptures and carvings. The focal point of the gardens is the Rotorua Museum, housed in the magnificent old Bath House. The Maori Battalion gallery, which tells the story of B Company of 28 Maori Battalion, is a deeply moving experience. The Arawa Gallery has a wonderful collection of carvings, weaving, weapons and historic photos. And the display of the old bath house itself, looking back to the days when people came from round the world to be smeared with thermal mud, is a delight.

From the gardens it's a pleasant walk round Lake Rotorua to the busy tourist port, where paddle steamers and float planes ply their trade.

Just a bit further round the lake is the lovely village of Ohinemutu, the original settlement here. There's the wonderful St Faith's Church, with its spectacular carvings and window; the majestic Tamatekapua meeting house; the huge Whakaturia dining hall; the Hidden Treasure souvenir gallery with its skilful master carver; and, all around, canoes, carvings, hot springs, the great lake and other reminders of why Rotorua remains such a unique place to visit.

Jim Eagles stayed in Rotorua as a guest of the Princes Gate Hotel.

For more information about the hotel, see www.princesgate.co.nz.