Islands Business - Pub Crawl: HONIARA HOTEL’S MARGARITAS BAR

Home away from home

Mere Tuqiri

A whale of a time... guests enjoying Margaritas Bar.

Could it be that the purpose of having a pool in front of a bar is that when one gets a tad wobbly in the legs after exercising the elbow more than a few times, one can dip into the chlorinated water, feel less wobbly, and onwards for another liquid fix?

I’m sure the owners of Honiara Hotel didn’t intend that, but the hotel’s fairly new 25-metre pool does provide a cooling effect alongside the Margaritas Bar. A bar and a pool somehow go hand-in-hand.

Margaritas Bar has been around for about a year, around the same time as the pool in fact. It’s one of the few upscale buzzing places where guests and visitors can walk in and enjoy drinks at the bar or lounge by the pool.

At the time I was there, Honiara Hotel owner, Sir Thomas Chan, was celebrating his birthday with a sizeable guest list, full island entertainment (including a parody of a pageant by a gorgeous lineup of Melanesian man-queens) by the pool and drinks on the house. How absolutely generous of Sir Thomas! He is a known Honiara businessman and once played his hand in Solomon Islands politics.

The hotel’s operation’s manager, Rose Masibata, notes that visitors (who are not guests) are most welcome.
If the pool is what you’re after, the condition is that you need to flash out some loose change at the Margaritas Bar for a thirst quencher or order food at their Oasis Restaurant. Sounds like a fair deal.

The guest is king or queen at Honiara Hotel and that means, not so much a sprinkle of rose petals each time you take a step, but management aims for your comfort and enjoyment away from your home.