Gateway Hotel and Apartments

Rooms and decor

Picture a multi-wing hotel wrapped around a large blue pool in the middle of the building, with tall palms for shade, a wooden deck, and loungers all around — that's the first thing you see when you check into Gateway Hotel and Apartments. It's one of the flagships of Coral Sea Hotels, the oldest and most trusted local group in Papua New Guinea. The property splits into two main zones: a traditional hotel wing of 130 rooms and an apartments wing of 63 units. Rooms are contemporary in a neutral brown-and-cream palette — not flashy, but clean and ready to use, with comfortable beds and properly cold air-con (which matters in humid Port Moresby), a mini-bar fridge, a flat-screen TV, and a hot-water shower. Some rooms face the pool and central garden, others look out at the runway, which plane-spotters will quietly love. If you want more space or you're here to work for a stretch, ask for the apartments wing — it adds a kitchenette, washing machine, separate living area, and nearly double the room.

Food and amenities

Gateway's headline claim is "everything in one place" — there are 5 restaurants under one roof, a lot for a 4-star at this level. Start with Vue Restaurant, the international buffet upstairs with a view over the runway, open for breakfast and dinner daily and popular with regulars in town. Then the Chinese kitchen Bacchus, leaning Cantonese and dim sum; the Italian The Deli for pizza and pasta; and the Aussie-style pub Cellar Bar with draft beer and steaks, busiest on Friday nights with live music. Add the Pool Bar for an afternoon drink by the water, and the short version is this: if you land late or don't fancy eating outside the hotel, you have a full set of options without leaving the building. The central pool is the other thing that sets this apart from a generic airport hotel — bigger than you'd expect, with a shallow zone for kids, plenty of loungers, and shade all day. The fitness centre has the basics, and the part many people rave about is the free 24-hour airport shuttle that actually runs on time — call it whenever, no guesswork like a taxi.

Location and getting there

Gateway's location is the single reason most people book it — the hotel sits directly across from Jacksons International Airport (POM), close enough to walk across the road in about 3–5 minutes if you're not dragging a big suitcase, and the free shuttle runs 24 hours, callable from both arrivals and departures. That means if you land at 3 am or have to check in at 4 am for a dawn flight, there's no scramble for a taxi and no worry about night safety in the city. The airport zone is about 8 km from central Port Moresby, roughly 15–20 minutes by car out to Downtown or the government district of Waigani; the cruise port is around 25 minutes. Anyone heading off to stage the legendary Kokoda Track can use Gateway as a base before and after the trek, since it's close to the airport for the small-plane hops to the trailhead villages. One thing to know: the area around the hotel is airport land and warehouses, with no shops or cafés to walk to — everything is inside the building or a car ride away. But that's simply how Port Moresby is; it isn't a walking city.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide — Gateway isn't a hotel you'll fall in love with, because it doesn't sell beauty or luxury, it sells convenience. So if you're expecting a plush honeymoon room, this may disappoint. The most common gripe in reviews is the condition of the older wing — dated furniture, tired bathrooms, scuffed walls — and many feel the $80–114 a night looks high against the state of the room. Ask for a room in the newer wing or the apartment side when you book. The next-most-common issue is Wi-Fi that isn't fast enough and drops intermittently; if you're here for online meetings, keep a local Digicel SIM as backup. Hotel food is on the pricey side, as it is at most international hotels in Papua New Guinea, and the breakfast buffet isn't included with some room types, so check carefully when booking. Finally, noise: rooms facing the runway can hear planes coming and going at intervals, so if you're a light sleeper, ask for a pool-facing room instead.

Our take

After reading through hundreds of real reviews and weighing it against the other options in Port Moresby, Gateway Hotel and Apartments is the choice you make with your head rather than your heart — it isn't pretty or luxurious, but it does well the things it should do well: directly across from the airport, a free shuttle around the clock, restaurants and a pool inside the building, and a group you can trust in a country where finding a decent hotel isn't easy. If your trip is two nights of business in the capital before flying on, it fits. If you're heading off to trek the Kokoda Track and need a night before flying to the trailhead, it fits. If you're a cruise passenger stopping one night in Port Moresby, it fits. But if you're after a 4-star holiday experience, it may fall short — and hotel prices in Papua New Guinea run higher than they should everywhere anyway. Overall we give it 7.4/10, best for business travelers, hardy trekkers, and anyone who values being next to the airport over a luxurious room.