AGGIE GREY’S HOTEL: THE GRAND DAME OF THE PACIFIC

The “Grand Old Lady” of Samoa, Aggie Grey’s is an iconic resort hotel that dates back to 1933. The hotel has a storied history and owes its foundation and reputation to the illustrious Aggie Grey – a famous Samoan socialite and business tycoon. The hotel has long been a haunt of visiting celebrities and is a preferred honeymoon destination for the well-heeled. The hotel has been an important part of the Sheraton chain since the operator took over management in 2013 and rebranded as the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey’s Hotel & Bungalows in 2016.

Aggie Grey was a gregarious and impressive woman, the daughter of an English settler and his Samoan wife, she was comfortable mixing within both societies and became an important figure in Samoa’s social and business scenes. Recognising the need for a social hub for Samoan society and for hosting and accommodating visiting dignitaries and colonial administrators, she established her eponymous hotel in 1933 on the waterfront overlooking Apia’s harbour.

Samoa was then under the administration of New Zealand and under the British Crown as a Commonwealth colony. The island nation had played an important role in European imperial expansion and the ensuing wars between colonial powers and, later, in the First World War. A great deal many soldiers were stationed on the island at various points, and a number of foreign civil servants had been posted to the island in what had been nearly a century of European contact with the Samoan peoples.

Many of these personnel and the settlers that had come with them to support their small colonial outposts would fall in love with this little slice of paradise in the South Pacific. They would share stories of the beauty of the island and its hospitable people on their return to their homelands and would inspire a new era in tourism to Samoa, enabled by advances in maritime and aviation travel. Indeed, many of them would return themselves.

Aggie Grey could see the potential that international travel would bring to her islands and discerned that a great resort hotel, modelled on the Grand Hotels that had been established at other colonial outposts across Africa, Asia and South America, would be the first port of call for wealthy visitors.

A keen socialite, such a hotel would suit her ambitions as a gracious host to the world’s elite and the various celebrities that would visit Samoa on their grand tours.

Aggie Grey’s vision proved to be a great success and her hotel was an immediate success, attracting many famous names in its early years and becoming the heart of the Samoan capital’s social scene.

Visitors to the hotel have included Hollywood grandees Gary Cooper and Marlon Brando amongst many other silver screen stars and renowned writers, including author James Michener who is believed to have taken inspiration for his character Bloody Mary in Tales of the South Pacific from Aggie. His work later being adapted to the smash hit musical, South Pacific. Michener also wrote the foreword to Fay Alailima’s biography of the woman, ‘Aggie Grey: A Samoan Saga‘. The hotel was also used as a filming location for Return to Paradise, starring the aforementioned Cooper and based upon one of the tales in Michener’s book. Aggie Grey was keen to associate with her distinguished guests, as was her sister Mary who was also in the hospitality sector, running a boarding house in the city. The hotel played a significant role in the Samoan experience of World War Two, with Samoa being a strategic military base and supply depot for Pacific fleets.

The hotel was controlled by Aggie Grey, and later her family, through the Grey Investment Group, a holding company established by the tycoon in 1919 with her opening of the Cosmoplitan Club. She would acquire the British Club in 1933 before opening her famous hotel. The group’s enterprises, which also included sandwich carts serving visitors to the port and stationed servicemen in Apia, were collectively and individually referred to as “Aggie’s”. The many businesses were also key destinations for thirsty patrons seeking to circumvent the strict prohibition laws of the early part of the 20^th Century. Aggie’s nous at organising alcohol supplies from passing trade vessels and her sister’s reputation as the host of “The Casino” as her boarding house was known, had given the family quite a reputation as carefree and spirited. A reputation which would be lent to her hotel as a place of fun and frivolity in its early years.

The group remained under the Grey family’s control for more than a hundred years and would grow to acquire interests in several Samoan industries from bottling to banking. The hotel division would expand their brand to two other Samoan properties. The first being located about 30km west of Apia on Upolu’s northern coast in Faleolo which was known as Aggie Grey’s Lagoon Beach Resort until it was rebranded as Sheraton Samoa Beach Resort, a 3-star resort hotel. The second, Le Méridien Tahiti, was acquired by the group in 2012 and, for a while, was known as Aggie Grey’s Le Méridien Tahiti under Marriott’s Le Méridien brand. The Tahiti hotel rebranded as the Hôtel Tahiti Ia Ora Beach Resort and is now under the management of Accor’s Sofitel brand as the Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Bech Resort.

The group and its hotels suffered catastrophic damage in 2012 when Cyclone Evan hit, shuttering the famous Apia hotel for three years whilst undergoing refurbishment. On reopening, Aggie Grey’s announced a deal with Marriott’s Sheraton hotels to operate and rebrand their portfolio. Further expansion looked to be on the cards when, in 2017, it was reported that Aggie Grey’s would be taking over the Manava Beach Resort and Spa. However no deal was reached and the company would make the decision to dispose of its hotel division to Chinese investors in 2018 before entering administration in 2023.

As a Mariott Bonvoy hotel run under the Sheraton brand, the hotel continues its reputation as Samoa’s premier grand hotel and is a must visit for tourists arriving in Apia, who enjoy a drink in the hotel’s legendary Lobby Bar or take a meal in one of it’s many dining rooms and terraces. The Feast restaurant being a covered, fan-cooled terrace resembling the fale tele communal houses of native Samoan culture. The hotel also has a Tea Lounge offering high tea and other fayre and a pool bar located at the outdoor swimming pool. A billiards room provides an entertainment space for residents and visitors. The hotel offers 5 star accommodations and service, befitting it’s Great Dame status.

The hotel has 175 rooms, including suites and serviced bungalows. Each room has been refurbished and modernised in the past decade, in keeping with the Sheraton house style, albeit with subtle nods to the hotel’s colonial history. The exterior of the hotel remains true to its original design and is a classical example of Pacific colonial architecture. The hotel’s various rooms and communal spaces are designed to maximise the sea views and are arranged around a central courtyard in which the bungalows and swimming pool offer an alternate vista. The hotel features various nods to its history and heritage whilst also acknowledging the traditions and customs of the Samoan people. Visitors entering the hotel for the first time will be struck by the light and airy atrium and comfortable meeting and lounge spaces. The hotel has embraced the islanders tradition of using the outdoors as home, with guest easily moving between outside and inside areas seamlessly. The receptionists and the hotel concierge staff will be only too happy to share a little of the hotel and the island’s history with you and can facilitate your every request.

The hotel remains one of the most famous and storied of the Southern Hemisphere and is, arguably, the most legendary of the Pacific Islands. It is a popular wedding and honeymoon destination and regularly hosts conferences and large-scale events. The hotel is still an important hub for island life and social events. Much of the hotel’s history is told through the various events hosted therein and the artistic and cultural references depicted on stage, on screen and in literature. You can find material related to this and hotel memorabilia on many online auction sites.

As a popular resort destination, visitors are strongly recommended to make bookings in advance of arrival in Samoa as walk-in guests may find availability limited.

Have you had the pleasure of a stay at this iconic hotel? Perhaps you have some interesting anecdotes about the hotel’s illustrious founder or her family? Please feel free to share with us in the comments section.

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