Havelock North's new five-star hotel welcomes its first guests

Porters Boutique Hotel in Havelock North opened its doors and checked in its first guests last night. Photo / Paul Taylor.

Havelock North's brand new five-star hotel has opened its doors and played host to its first guests last night.

Porters Boutique Hotel has been in the making for two years and general manager Odette Bowyer could not be happier to be under way.

"It was so exciting we checked in our first guests and we even had a walk in from some people who live in Taupo."

The first night saw 16 rooms booked out of the 42 room hotel and there are another 27 booked tonight.

"We even have some VIPs arriving tomorrow so that is quite exciting. We have definitely got off to a good start."

The new Malo restaurant also opened yesterday, which showcased some of Hawke's Bay's quality wine and food.

Ms Bowyer said they had received nothing but positive feedback so far.

"We held the Havelock North Business Association here at the hotel and Malo restaurant earlier this week and they raved about it. It seems like people love it, which is great."

Privately owned by the Hawke's Bay Mackersey and Lowe families, the boutique hotel was developed after they identified a gap in the Hawke's Bay accommodation market.

Co-owner and director David Mackersey said he believed Porters would set a new benchmark for five-star accommodation in Hawke's Bay.

"We saw the opportunity to offer visitors a standard of accommodation not previously available in the Hastings district," he said.

The hotel complex is complete with a shopping precinct and commercial office space but that does not open until a later date.

The grand opening of the hotel and retail complex will be held in March 2017 when everything is complete.