Flag Hotel Gateway, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Advantages: Brilliant experience, unforgettable taste of a culture very different from my own.
Disadvantages: High crime rate in the capital city.

...four houses on the main island had telephones. The majority of people cannot speak English or even Pidgin (the language used in most major cities), and it has only been within the past few decades that the people stopped wearing grass skirts and took to cheap t-shirts instead (though a lot of women still go around topless). The main diet includes yams, bananas, coconuts and freshly caught fish. As experiences of different cultures go, I have to say this definitely topped my list. Sadly though, I have to say that my time spent in Port Moresby (the capital of Papua New Guinea) did not affect me in the same way. It is a very ugly, over-populated city, and the crime rate is continually rising. Unemployment rates are ridiculously high - something like 90%, which is why 'Rascals' (PNG term for criminals) abound. My advice is to spend as little... Read review

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Advantages: Close to airport, clean and secure, great restaurant, bar and pool on the roof
Disadvantages: Close to airport, little way out of town.

...I stayed at the Airways Hotel back in October 2004 having missed a flight up to the Tufi Dive Resort. Prior to arriving in PNG I had heard a few stories about Port Moresby, and the advice was not to stay too long in town, so to find I would have to make a unscheduled stop was a little worrying. Any worries I had soon went when we pulled up at the Airways, it is a modern, high quality, air-conditioned hotel located about 5 minutes drive from the airport, so a little way outside the main town. The rooms are very comfortable, the ones we stayed in had either double or twin beds, in-room safe, both had air-conditioning and one even had a kitchen! The front-desk staff were very helpful, allowing us to store some large items in their main safe On the roof terrace the Airways name becomes the theme. There is a DC3 (I think) forming part... Read review

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Advantages: Stunningly beautiful, friendly English speaking people
Disadvantages: Dangerous, unless you follow stringent rules.

...I made five one month trips to PNG through 2007. Apart from the small isolated patch of jungle where I worked, my main impression from a visitor's point of view was in Port Moresby, the capital, and Lalouta Island (Dive Centre) about 5kms away. Generally the people are wonderfully friendly. Bad people are referred to throughout PNG by the charming name of "rascals." Their economic woes have of course caused painful unemployent and a dispossessed youth who have turned to drugs and robbery. As all reviews have stated, it isn't safe to walk the streets day or night. Taxis are safe if you order them through your hotel and are not expensive, but you always need to have your eyes looking behind you. ATM cash points are fairly well distributed, but some banks don't take some cards and some don't take others. If you can calculate what cash you... Read review

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