Grand Pacific Hotel Suva

When the Grand Pacific Hotel opened on 23 May 1914, it was built to make passengers forget they’d come ashore. The Union Steamship Company of New Zealand commissioned it specifically for travellers on its transpacific routes between Fiji and Auckland — and the architects delivered on that brief with rooms designed like first-class staterooms, saltwater bathrooms, plumbing fixtures identical to those on an ocean liner, and a 15-foot-wide veranda wrapping the entire building’s second floor so guests could walk around it as if pacing a ship’s deck.

Over the next seven decades, that veranda witnessed a remarkable parade of the twentieth century’s most significant figures. Queen Elizabeth II visited four times — in 1953, 1973, 1977, and 1982 — greeted crowds from the largest balcony on each occasion. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, stayed in the Royal Suite during their 2018 Pacific tour and recreated the same balcony wave. Somerset Maugham stayed in 1916, Charles Kingsford Smith was honoured here with a ball in June 1928 after landing his Southern Cross monoplane on Albert Park — directly opposite — completing the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia. Dame Nellie Melba, James Michener (writing Tales of the South Pacific here between 1946 and 1947), Noël Coward, Douglas Fairbanks. The list goes on, and the hotel’s hall of fame documents all of them.

The hotel closed in 1992 and fell into significant disrepair. It sat derelict for years. Then the Fiji National Provident Fund led a major heritage restoration project — a joint venture with the Papua New Guinea Superannuation Fund and Lamana Development PNG — and the Grand Pacific Hotel reopened in May 2014, precisely 100 years after its original opening. The building’s image appears on Fiji’s $10 banknote. There is no more historically significant place to stay in Fiji’s capital.

The Grand Pacific Hotel is a 4.5-star heritage property on Victoria Parade in Suva, rated 4.4/5 from 1,009 reviews and ranked #2 of 13 hotels in the city. Its 113 rooms and suites span the Harbour and Kingsford Smith Wings alongside 10 Heritage suites, with rates starting from $207/night. Five dining and bar venues are on-site — the Prince Albert Restaurant, Levuka Restaurant, Na Toba Pool Bar, Steamship Bar, and GPH Bakery — backed by 24-hour room service, the GPH Day Spa, an outdoor pool, a fitness centre, and a 600 sq. m. ballroom. IHG assumed management in July 2020, and IHG One Rewards members can earn and redeem points here.

In this guide we’ll cover the full history and architecture, all accommodation categories including the Royal Suite and Heritage suites, dining across every venue, the spa, location and what’s walkable, pricing considerations, IHG status, and how to get from Nadi and Nausori.

History & Architecture

The hotel was conceived by Sir James Mills, Managing Director of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, who in 1910 commissioned plans for a property that would serve the company’s transpacific passenger routes. The site chosen was two acres of reclaimed Suva Harbour land — the former landing spot of the original Suva village, called Vu-ni-vesi after the nearby trees. Architects Salmond & Vanes of Dunedin designed the building; construction in reinforced ferro-concrete was carried out by Hall Hogg & Company, also of Dunedin.

The design logic was specific: every room on the second floor, every room opening onto the perimeter veranda, the building’s mass facing the harbour. Guests staying at the GPH were meant to experience Suva as a port of call while remaining in the comfort of a liner-quality hotel. The high ceilings, louvred double doors, and verandas are not decorative concessions to tropicality — they are the entire structural premise of the building.

The hall of fame is one of the genuinely compelling features of the hotel. Framed photographs, letters, and documentation of famous guests line the corridors and public spaces: the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) visited in February 1927; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester attended an official ball in 1935; Prince Charles attended a state dinner here in October 1970 to mark Fiji’s independence; Alfred Deakin, the former Australian Prime Minister, was among the first significant visitors in February 1915. Exploring the hall of fame on arrival or departure is worth 20 minutes of anyone’s time — it is a genuinely useful document of the twentieth century Pacific.

The Kingsford Smith Pavilion in Albert Park, directly across the road, commemorates the June 1928 landing of the Southern Cross on that oval — the ball held that evening at the GPH served as Suva’s celebration of the first trans-Pacific flight. The hotel and the park are permanently linked by that moment.

After the hotel’s 1992 closure, the building deteriorated significantly. The 2014 centenary restoration preserved and reinforced the original ferro-concrete structure while bringing modern electrical, plumbing, and climate systems into a building designed for the Edwardian era. The result is a “Raffles-esque” quality — the colonial verandas, the high-ceilinged public rooms, the period architecture facing Albert Park — with hotel infrastructure that functions to contemporary expectations.

Rooms & Suites

The hotel’s 113 rooms and suites are arranged across three sections. The Harbour Wing and Kingsford Smith Wing contain 103 contemporary rooms with modern finishes and harbour or park views. The Heritage Wing holds 10 suites and rooms that lean into the colonial character of the building more explicitly, with French doors opening onto heritage verandas and access to the exclusive Victoria Lounge.

All rooms include air conditioning, private balcony, minibar, flat-screen TV, room safe, and WiFi. Rooms come with a French press and coffee grounds, electric kettle, and milk in the fridge — a thoughtful arrangement for early mornings that makes a meaningful difference compared with the standard hotel pod machine.

Heritage Rooms and Suites are the most characterful accommodation on the property. These 10 rooms open directly onto the building’s original verandas, with French doors, high ceilings, and period architectural details that the contemporary wings don’t replicate. Heritage guests have access to the Victoria Lounge, the hotel’s private lounge with harbour views, serving breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening drinks.

Royal Suite — the suite used by Queen Elizabeth II on her visits, and by Prince Harry and Meghan in 2018 — features a separate dining area, a French door-framed veranda with views of Suva Harbour and the surrounding mountains, and proportions that reflect its original purpose as accommodation for heads of state. It is the largest and most historically significant room in the property. The Queen Elizabeth Suite is also named and documented, with the balcony from which she famously addressed waiting crowds below.

Named wing suites in the Harbour and Kingsford Smith Wings are more contemporary in finish but share the harbour orientation, with private balconies that frame the working waterfront and the green mass of the mountains beyond Suva Harbour. Bridal suite packages are available, and the hotel is a common Suva wedding venue given its combination of ballroom scale and heritage character.

Prince Albert Restaurant

The hotel’s flagship dining venue is named after Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria, after whom Albert Park across the road was also named. The restaurant operates as the formal dining room of the Grand Pacific Hotel, with a menu focused on modern Fijian fusion — locally sourced fish and seafood, fresh meats, and seasonal produce treated with enough culinary intelligence to make the cooking genuinely interesting rather than formulaic resort food.

The dinner menu includes dishes like Honey Fire Ham; the kitchen’s approach to local ingredients — kokoda, fresh reef fish, Pacific produce — is thoughtful and the price point for this quality of cooking is reasonable for a hotel at this tier. Service in the Prince Albert is warm if occasionally unhurried — pace reflects the island setting — but the food itself is consistently the highlight. The colonial setting — high ceilings, period furnishings, the sense of the building’s history in the architecture — makes the dining experience different from any hotel restaurant in Fiji’s beach resort corridor.

The GPH Bakery operates as the hotel’s café and is open daily. For guests wanting an early morning coffee before Suva wakes up, this is the practical option — proper café coffee, fresh pastries, and a reliable early-morning start.

The Levuka Restaurant provides a secondary dining option with harbour views and a broader menu covering breakfast through dinner. For guests not wanting the formality of Prince Albert, Levuka is the everyday-dining alternative with more casual service. The Na Toba Pool Bar covers poolside drinks and snacks. The Steamship Bar — the name a nod to the hotel’s Union Steamship Company origins — operates as the hotel’s lounge bar, serving the GPH signature cocktail, the “GPH G and Tea” (Earl Grey tea, dried Fijian Batiri orange, and local Blue Turtle Gin).

Room Service

The 24-hour room service menu covers the full range from the kitchen. The chicken burger has developed a devoted following among repeat guests — an unusually specific commendation that reflects genuine quality rather than the generic hotel option you might expect. For guests arriving on late Nadi transfers or early Nausori flights, or simply wanting a meal without leaving the room after a long day in Suva, the 24-hour availability matters.

Room service pricing is at a premium, as is standard for hotel in-room dining, so guests who plan to rely on it heavily will notice the cost. The quality, however, consistently exceeds expectations for a city hotel in this market.

Spa & Wellness

The GPH Day Spa is the hotel’s wellness facility and one of the property’s standout offerings. The couples massage — priced at $195 FJD total for 45 minutes — represents strong value for this quality of treatment. The masseuse team is skilled, and treatments consistently deliver above what the price point would suggest.

For guests staying in Suva primarily for business, or passing through as part of a broader Fiji itinerary, an afternoon at the spa is the most efficient way to decompress. The quality of the treatments at this price point is notably better than what comparable money buys at the beach resort corridor around Nadi and Denarau.

The outdoor pool faces the hotel’s garden and provides a quiet retreat from Suva’s city energy. Given the hotel’s urban setting it functions differently from a beach resort pool — more as a calm retreat than a beach-club environment — but it’s well-maintained and a genuine amenity on a Suva afternoon.

The gym is small — this is a heritage hotel with a building footprint that dates to 1914, and the fitness center occupies the space that was available after the 2014 restoration rather than a purpose-built facility. For guests who train daily, the gym handles the basics. For guests expecting a full-scale fitness center, the limitation is worth knowing in advance.

Location & Suva Walking

The Grand Pacific Hotel’s position on Victoria Parade is the defining advantage for any visitor with Suva on the itinerary. The hotel sits directly opposite Albert Park — the colonial sports ground built in the 1880s on land from the original Suva village, named for Prince Albert, and one of the most historically significant public spaces in the Pacific. Watching a cricket match or a rugby game from the hotel’s veranda with Albert Park as the view is an experience specific to this property.

The Thurston Botanical Gardens — Fiji’s national botanical gardens, renamed for Governor Sir John Bates Thurston — are immediately adjacent. The Fiji Museum sits within Thurston Gardens, approximately 8.5 minutes’ walk from the hotel. The museum holds the most significant collection of Fijian artefacts in the country, including pre-contact material culture, colonial-period documentation, and regional Pacific collections. It opens 9:00am–4:30pm. For any visitor to Fiji with an interest in Pacific history, the Fiji Museum is worth two hours.

The Fijian Parliament, the Presidential Palace (Government House), and the core of Suva’s colonial civic architecture are all accessible on foot. The Suva Municipal Market — one of the largest and most active markets in the Pacific — is approximately 17 minutes’ walk. Note that the Municipal Market is closed on Sundays; for Sunday shopping, MHCC Mall in central Suva is the practical alternative and is open seven days.

For coffee before Suva opens properly, the Coffee Hub near the hotel operates from 8:00am and functions as the city’s early-morning café of choice for the business district. Café Moments is a strong lunch option, with a menu that draws local office workers and is a reliable indication of where the city eats rather than where tourists are directed.

Suva’s layout makes the Grand Pacific Hotel the most practical base in the city. Everything of historical and cultural significance is walkable in under 20 minutes.

Pricing Transparency

Published rates start from $207/night and represent the hotel’s standard positioning — it is the most prestigious address in Suva and prices accordingly. However, rates at the Grand Pacific Hotel can move significantly based on demand. Peak Christmas and New Year pricing approaches AU$521/night — nearly triple the standard rate. If you are planning a stay over the Fiji holiday period (late December through early January), check rates early and be prepared for a significant premium.

A credit card hold is required at check-in, which is standard practice across Fiji’s hotel sector and not specific to this property. The hold is returned at checkout once the account is settled. It is not a fee, but guests should have the available credit on their card at check-in.

Room service and in-room minibar consumption adds up quickly on the final account — this is an honest function of 24-hour room service pricing rather than a specific concern about the hotel’s billing practices. Guests who are budget-conscious about incidentals should plan to eat primarily at the hotel’s restaurants (where the value is better) rather than through room service.

IHG Status & Points

In July 2020, IHG signed an agreement to assume management of the Grand Pacific Hotel and rebrand it as an InterContinental property. The IHG One Rewards program is active at the property — members can earn and redeem points, and the hotel is bookable using IHG free night awards. This makes the Grand Pacific Hotel a strong redemption option for IHG members who want to experience Fiji’s most historically significant hotel without paying cash rates.

The planned InterContinental rebrand was announced for completion by 2022. As of the time of writing, the property operates under IHG management and is listed on IHG’s booking platform, alongside the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa in Natadola Bay (also FNPF-owned). Guests with IHG Ambassador or IHG One Rewards Elite status receive the standard IHG benefits applicable at their tier — worth factoring in if you hold status and are planning a Suva visit.

For IHG members holding free night certificates or significant points balances, the Grand Pacific Hotel represents one of the more distinctive options in the IHG Pacific portfolio — its combination of heritage character and central Suva location is unlike any other IHG property in Fiji.

Getting to Suva & GPH

From Nadi International Airport: Suva is approximately 193 kilometres from Nadi along the Queens Highway and Princes Road, a drive of roughly 3 hours depending on traffic and route. Private drivers can be arranged through the hotel and the round-trip cost for two people is approximately $408 FJD — a fixed arrangement that removes the negotiation and variability of independent taxi hire. For travellers uncomfortable with the logistics of finding a Suva-bound car at Nadi, booking the hotel’s airport transfer is the straightforward option.

Public express buses between Nadi and Suva run regularly, are significantly cheaper, and are a reasonable option for independent travellers who have time and luggage that doesn’t make bus travel impractical.

From Nausori Airport: Nausori is Suva’s domestic airport and the point of arrival for inter-island flights on Fiji Airways and FijiLink from Labasa, Savusavu, Taveuni, and other domestic destinations. The drive from Nausori to the Grand Pacific Hotel is approximately 30 to 40 minutes. The hotel provides airport transfer service from Nausori; taxi alternatives are also available from the airport rank.

For visitors flying into Nadi and continuing to Suva as part of a broader Fiji itinerary, the most practical routing combines a Nadi-based start (Mamanuca or Yasawa islands, Denarau) with a 2 to 3-night Suva segment at the GPH before departing through Nausori or returning to Nadi. The hotel can assist with domestic flight bookings and transport connections.

Final Thoughts

The Grand Pacific Hotel is the most characterful place to stay in Fiji’s capital, and it’s not a close competition. If you are spending time in Suva — for business, for the Fiji Museum, for the market, for the city’s underrated restaurant scene — there is no more atmospheric base than this building. The history is embedded in the architecture, documented in the hall of fame, and reinforced by the view of Albert Park from the veranda.

It is worth being clear-eyed about what the GPH is and what it is not. It is not a beach resort. There is no sand, no reef walk, no snorkelling off the jetty. Suva’s weather is genuinely wetter than the dry zone around Nadi. The gym is small, the pool is urban rather than resort-scale, and room service pricing is hotel pricing. If your Fiji trip is primarily about beach access and resort amenities, the GPH is a night or two in the capital rather than the anchor of the holiday.

If, however, you want to spend time in the one Fijian hotel that carries the weight of Pacific history in its walls — where the architecture of the building is a document of the region’s colonial era, where the hall of fame is an actual historical record, where the spa is outstanding value and the room service chicken burger has an inexplicable fan base — the Grand Pacific Hotel is exactly what it looks like. Book a Heritage suite if the budget allows. Take the couples massage. Walk across to Albert Park in the morning and look at the Kingsford Smith Pavilion. Have the GPH G and Tea at the Steamship Bar in the evening. That is what staying here is for.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Grand Pacific Hotel’s history?

The Grand Pacific Hotel was built by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand and opened on 23 May 1914. It was designed to serve passengers on the company’s transpacific routes, with rooms modelled on first-class staterooms and a full-perimeter veranda. The hotel hosted Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Somerset Maugham, Charles Kingsford Smith, Dame Nellie Melba, James Michener, Noël Coward, and many other notable figures of the twentieth century. The hotel closed in 1992 and reopened in May 2014 following a major centenary heritage restoration. Its image appears on Fiji’s $10 note.

Who has stayed at the Grand Pacific Hotel?

Notable guests include Queen Elizabeth II (four visits: 1953, 1973, 1977, 1982), Prince Philip, the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (2018), Somerset Maugham (1916), Charles Kingsford Smith (1928), Dame Nellie Melba (1915), James Michener (1946–1947), Noël Coward (1962), and Douglas Fairbanks (1935), among many others. The hotel maintains a hall of fame with photographs and documentation of distinguished guests.

Is the Grand Pacific Hotel part of IHG?

Yes. In July 2020, IHG signed an agreement to assume management of the Grand Pacific Hotel. The property is bookable on IHG’s platform, and IHG One Rewards members can earn and redeem points. The hotel was announced for rebrand as an InterContinental property. The hotel is owned by the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF), which also owns the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa in Natadola Bay.

How far is the Grand Pacific Hotel from Nadi Airport?

The drive from Nadi International Airport to the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva is approximately 193 kilometres and takes around 3 hours. The hotel can arrange private airport transfers for approximately $408 FJD round trip for two people. Public express buses also run between Nadi and Suva and are a viable budget alternative.

How far is Nausori Airport from the Grand Pacific Hotel?

Nausori Airport, which serves domestic flights within Fiji, is approximately 23 kilometres from the Grand Pacific Hotel — roughly 30 to 40 minutes by car. The hotel provides airport transfer service from Nausori.

What are the best rooms at the Grand Pacific Hotel?

The Royal Suite is the most historically significant room in the property — used by Queen Elizabeth II on multiple occasions and by Prince Harry and Meghan in 2018, with harbour and mountain views from a French door-framed veranda and a separate dining area. Heritage Wing suites open directly onto the building’s original verandas and include Victoria Lounge access. For guests prioritising views and contemporary fit-out over heritage character, harbour-facing rooms in the Kingsford Smith and Harbour Wings are well-reviewed.

What is the spa like at the Grand Pacific Hotel?

The GPH Day Spa offers massage and beauty treatments, with the couples massage package at $195 FJD for 45 minutes drawing particularly strong reviews. Individual masseuses have been praised by name in guest reviews. The spa is considered excellent value for the quality of treatment delivered, especially for a hotel at this tier.

What is Albert Park and why is it significant?

Albert Park is the historic sports ground directly opposite the Grand Pacific Hotel on Victoria Parade, built in the 1880s on land from the original Suva village and named for Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria. It was the landing site for Charles Kingsford Smith’s Southern Cross aircraft in June 1928, completing the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia — an event celebrated that evening with a ball at the Grand Pacific Hotel. Albert Park was also the site of Fiji’s independence flag-raising on 9 October 1970. The park hosts cricket and rugby events that are visible from the hotel’s veranda.

What dining is available at the Grand Pacific Hotel?

The hotel has five dining and bar venues: the Prince Albert Restaurant (formal dining, modern Fijian fusion cuisine), the Levuka Restaurant (breakfast through dinner with harbour views), the Na Toba Pool Bar (poolside drinks and snacks), the Steamship Bar (cocktails and light bites, including the GPH G and Tea signature cocktail), and the GPH Bakery (open daily for pastries and coffee). 24-hour room service is also available.

What are the rates at the Grand Pacific Hotel and what should I know about pricing?

Published rates start from $207/night. Rates move significantly based on demand — the Christmas and New Year period has seen rates approach AU$521/night, close to triple the standard rate. If booking over peak holiday periods, check rates early. A credit card hold is required at check-in as security against incidentals; this is standard across Fiji hotels and is returned at checkout. IHG One Rewards members can use points for redemption bookings.

By: Sarika Nand