Park Heritage Hotel

"The hotel was first built in 1968... [as Rotorua International Hotel to replace] the old Geyser Hotel which stood on the site for many years. It is excellently positioned next to the famous thermal reserve of Whakarewarewa, the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and a first-class golf course.

After six years of Consolidated Hotel management the International was passed into the Tourist Hotel Corporation. It's recent [1973] sale means that it is now one of a chain of state-owned hotels which include the Chateau Tongariro, the Wairakei and Tokaanu Hotels, the Waitangi and Waitomo Hotels in the North Island and the Hermitage, Franz Joseph Hotel and the Milford Hotel in the South Island. It's sale marks the Government's first attempt at competitive hotel marketing. Other corporation hotels are in isolated areas where tourists would not otherwise be able to get accommodation."(Thermalair)

Since 1973 the hotel has seen several ownership changes. By 2014 it was called 'The Holiday Inn Rotorua' and as of 2022 it was 'Rydges Rotorua'.

We would appreciate any information you have about the murals that can be seen on the exterior of the building in the 1981 photograph by S. Raynes (linked below).

See also:

• Kete Rotorua | Rotorua International Hotel (Thermalair, August 3rd 1973. pg 10)
• 'Hotels and Motels - North Island - Rotorua Publicity Caption: The Rotorua International Hotel Photographer: S. Raynes' (1981, Archives NZ, ref: R24836696)
• Margaret McClure, 'Tourist industry - Slow growth until 1960', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (Tourist Hotel Corporation).
• The current hotel as Rydges Rotorua.