IHG to open three hotels in New Caledonia

IHG to open three hotels in New Caledonia
Render of the InterContinental Lifou Wadra Bay Resort

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will make a grand entrance into New Caledonia with the signing of three hotels that will open between 2021 and 2024.

The new-build InterContinental® Lifou Wadra Bay Resort will be a 50-room luxury hotel located on the scenic Lifou, the largest island of the Loyalty Islands. Designed by both local architect, Atelier 13, and renowned interior designer, Chada, the resort is already under construction and will open in November 2021, featuring luxurious rooms, lagoon-front suites, all-day dining, a fine dining restaurant and bar, along with a gym, spa and an outdoor pool.

Hotel Paradis d’Ouvéa will convert to Holiday Inn® Resort Ouvéa in November 2021 following a full refurbishment, bringing it to life as the highest quality accommodation offering available on the island. Located on the beachfront at the picturesque Mouli Beach on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ouvéa Island, the 34-room resort will offer all-day dinning, a bar and an outdoor pool, not to mention stunning views of the lagoon with its endless shades of turquoise.

Holiday Inn Resort Lifou will convert from the current Hotel Drehu Village in 2024, following an extensive refurbishment program. The 30-room beachfront resort is located in the heart of Lifou Island’s town centre of Wé and will offer direct beach access to the magnificent, sandy Bay of Chateaubriand. Once it rebrands, it will offer all-day dining and bar, as well as an outdoor swimming pool.


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The hotels are all part of a long-term management agreement with owner Société de développement et d’investissement des Îles Loyauté (SODIL).

IHG to open three hotels in New Caledonia
Holiday Inn Resort Lifou

“What an exciting time for IHG as we make our foray into New Caledonia with the signing of three amazing hotels. The Loyalty Islands currently have no international hotel brand so bringing the world’s largest hotel brand family, Holiday Inn, and the world’s largest luxury hotel brand, InterContinental, to the islands will boost the territory’s global profile and give us a fantastic opportunity to offer IHG guests a unique New Caledonian tourism experience. We are proud to work with the owner of these properties to deliver spectacular and inspiring island hospitality,” said Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s Vice President of Development – Australasia, Japan & Pacific.

The Travel and Tourism sector is growing twice as fast as the world economy and supports one in ten jobs , making it a true growth engine. New Caledonia is an aspirational destination for travellers from around the world, and visitor arrivals are on an upwards trajectory. In fact, in 2017, more than 120,000 tourists and 493,000 cruise ship passengers visited New Caledonia, and we’ve seen a large increase in the number of Australian, New Zealand and Japanese tourists, as well as continued visitors from France.” commented William Ihage, General Manager of SODIL.