New Black Swan hotel owners hope expected tourism boom to 'pay off big time'

Black Swan hotel staff Skye Coward, Iri Bassett Kora, Matt Christensen, Kym Trapski, and Drew Condevillamar. Photo / Andrew Warner

A secluded Rotorua lakefront hotel is undergoing a transformation and the new owners expect the reopening of the borders to bring a "tourism boom" that will pay off "big time".

The Princes Gate Hotel Group bought the Black Swan Boutique Hotel in Kawaha Point for "well over" $3 million in December 2021.

Since then, owner representative Matt Christensen says the hotel has been running at near 100 per cent capacity, they have hired six new staff and its new restaurant will open next week.

Christensen said the Group, which is led by Auckland-based investor Cindy Hao, bought the Princes Gate Hotel in 2016, secured Kawaha Point's Kaura Lodge in 2020 and the Black Swan in December 2021.

The Group has also expanded its CBD footprint by acquiring the previous Radio Network's building on Fenton St and the adjoining sites in 2020.

"We are interested in seeing the accommodation sector continue to grow and improve.

"The accommodation offerings in Rotorua due to availability in the city is diminishing almost daily, with MIQ facilities and emergency transitional housing being acquired by the Government.

Black Swan hotel owner representative Matt Christensen. Photo / Andrew Warner

"It doesn't leave much for tourists and travellers through the region to be able to choose from, and fewer people means less expenditure in activities around the region."

Christensen said the Group was lucky to be in a "positive financial position" to be able to further invest in Rotorua's accommodation sector.

"We see the tourism boom that's going to come once the borders open is going to pay off big time."

Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins and immigration minister Kris Faafoi last week announced the border will reopen to vaccinated New Zealanders from Australia on February 27 and to Kiwis in the rest of the world on March 13.
The border is expected to fully reopen to visitors from anywhere in the world by October this year.

Christensen said the Black Swan re-opened under new ownership on December 15 and the 10 boutique rooms filled up fast.

"We had quite a lot of word-of-mouth bookings in quick succession. We had people coming in on December 16 and 17 and rebooking for the coming weekends and it has just flowed on from there."

Christensen said the hotel had been running almost empty for more than a year with one semi-permanent manager on site.

The Black Swan Boutique Hotel. Photo / Supplied

"We have grown that to four full-time staff. We have just hired two full-time chefs, with the restaurant opening for the first time next week."

The hotel interior would be renovated in the next few months and the Group had invested time and money into the hotel grounds, he said.

"We have spent significant amounts of time and money with local contractors to get the gardens back up to five-star standard."

Christensen said there were not many five-star accommodation options in Rotorua that were affordable to the New Zealand market.

"A higher class of hotel in a nice private secluded setting often comes with a very high price tag.

"At the current time, we would like to offer Kiwis an opportunity they wouldn't typically in normal times be able to experience... We are really opening the doors for everybody to be able to."

Professionals McDowell Real Estate co-owner Steve Lovegrove said the previous owners believed it was time to try something new after owning the business for seven years.

"Their story started when they stayed there about 2011/2012 and they had fallen in love with the place. They approached the owners and bought the business."

Lovegrove said the vendors "absolutely loved" the tourism industry but decided it was time to sell and Professionals McDowell began marketing the property in December 2020.

"We had very good interest but it was a moving target as to price expectation because we were in the unknown part of the pandemic and how that was affecting the tourism market."

In Autumn 2021 they took the property back off the market and reintroduced it again in October 2021.

"Surprisingly, a number of buyers came back with their interest and within a month it was under contract. In about six weeks it was sold.

"We ended up with a multi-offer and back-up buyer.

"We did have quite a surprising half a dozen local people who were looking at it as a personal home."

Rotorua Economic Development chief executive Andrew Wilson said it was great to see the confidence of business owners who were able to look to the future.

"It's also encouraging and fantastic to hear they have been extremely busy since their re-opening and are looking to further develop their offerings for locals with unique offerings."

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said it was encouraging to see the confidence in a property of this calibre.

"It's good to see people pushing ahead despite these challenging times."