New Experience Awaits Business Travellers

New Experience Awaits Business Travellers to Christ-church

A new state-of-the-art hotel designed to meet the specific needs of business travellers is being officially opened in Christchurch today (Friday 4 June) by New Zea-land’s Associate Minister of Tourism, Dr Jonathan Coleman.

One of the biggest New Zealand flags ever flown in this country will be raised a-top one of the South Island's tallest buildings at 1.40pm today to mark the official open-ing of Christchurch's newest hotel.

Associate Tourism Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman will raise the flag, which will fly proudly above The Marque Christchurch in a sign of national pride, when he visits the central city hotel to formally open it today.

The Marque Christchurch is located in the heart of the central business district and occupies 15 floors of one of the tallest building in the South Island. It promises its guests personalised service and modern, stylish functional rooms and technology that’s always on.

All of the hotel’s 171 rooms and suites have easy-to-use free high-speed broad-band access for up to a specified limit, iPod docking stations, as well as a desk and a comfortable ergonomic chair, and laptop-sized room safes. Free wireless internet is available in all the public areas and in the Biz business centre.

In the hotel’s lobby guests also have around-the-clock access to a virtual concierge - a 32” LCD touch screen which they can use to search for local attractions, shop-ping, transport and entertainment. It is interactive and allows guests to book online with instantaneous confirmation.

“Everything has been designed for the comfort and convenience of our guests. We’ve tried to think of everything a business traveller might need and have incor-porated that into the design of our rooms and facilities. The result is a hotel that is stylish and contemporary yet practical.

“Our goal is to establish The Marque Christchurch as the number one accommoda-tion choice for business travellers to Christchurch,” said the hotel’s general man-ager Brad Watts.

The Marque Christchurch is operated by the Singapore-based Rendezvous Hospi-tality Group (RHG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Straits Trading Company Limited.

RHG is working to establish itself at the forefront of the hotel industry in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, in particular with business travellers, and it has plans to invest $190 million over the next 10 years on building new hotels.

RHG chief executive officer Iqbal Jumabhoy, who is in Christchurch for the opening of The Marque Christchurch, said the hotel sets the new standard for the Marque brand in New Zealand.

“We’re thrilled with this hotel and believe it sets a new benchmark in service for business and independent leisure travellers. They can come here and know they have everything they need at their finger-tips,” Mr Jumabhoy said.

In addition to the well-appointed guest rooms, the hotel has a smart restaurant (‘Fresh’) and hip bar (‘Wet’), a selection of intimate meeting rooms, and a gymna-sium. There is a tram stop right at its doorstep and the hotel is just a minute’s walk from Cathedral Square.

“Christchurch is the economic hub of the South Island with a vibrant economy, which makes it a frequent port of call for many business travellers. They want a place to stay that is centrally located, stylish yet practical, and welcoming. That is what they will find when they walk through the door at The Marque,” Mr Jumabhoy said.

Careful attention has been paid to mitigating the impact The Marque Christchurch has on its environment. The facade is completely double-glazed throughout and high-grade insulation has been used to reduce the energy costs during the life of the building. The latest energy saving systems have also been incorporated wher-ever possible.

The hotel’s space-saving car stacker is also a first for Christchurch. Built to take 93 vehicles, the car stacker is designed to maximise car parking space in the hotel and lessen the impact hotel guests’ vehicles will have on the environment by cut-ting down the amount of driving they need to do to find a parking space. The result will be fewer emissions than in a conventional car parking building.

ENDS

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