Royal Hotel

Ovalau & the Lomaiviti Group


The Royal is the oldest hotel in the South Pacific, dating back to the 1860s (though it was rebuilt in the early 1900s after a fire) and it’s got the character to back it up. This proud timber building is thick with colonial atmosphere, although the creaking wooden floorboards are sometimes matched by a similarly creaky approach to customer service.

Upstairs each room is different and full of quirky old furniture, with iron bedsteads and sloping floors. The semi-enclosed private verandahs come complete with old-fashioned white cane chairs and wooden shutters. There are also some modern cottages with kitchenettes in the grounds – less characterful but certainly more comfortable.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ovalau & the Lomaiviti Group attractions

1. Masonic Lodge Ruins

0.06 MILES

This stone shell was the South Pacific’s first Masonic lodge (1875). This was once Levuka’s only Romanesque building, but it was burnt to a husk in the…

2. Former Town Hall

0.07 MILES

The former town hall (1901) is built in typical British colonial style (although not to celebrate Queen Victoria’s silver jubilee as is commonly thought),…

3. Old Police Station

0.1 MILES

The little weatherboard building on the corner of Garner Jones Rd and Totoga Lane was Levuka’s original police station (1874)

4. Navoka Methodist Church

0.11 MILES

In the cemetery next to the village’s Methodist Church is the grave of former American consul John Brown Williams. It was his claim for financial…

5. Sacred Heart Church

0.12 MILES

Sacred Heart Church dates from 1858. The clock strikes each hour twice, with a minute in between. Locals say the first strike is an alarm to warn people…

6. 199 Steps of Mission Hill

0.15 MILES

There are many old colonial homes on Levuka's hillsides, and the romantically named 199 Steps of Mission Hill are worth climbing for the fantastic view –…

7. Marist Convent School

0.17 MILES

The Marist Convent School (1882) was a girls school opened by Catholic missionaries and run by nuns, but is now a lively co-ed primary school. It was…