This was my first trip to Port Moresby. I have to say, it's a pretty rough town, and I think that although the Crowne Plaza is what I would rate as an average hotel, it is probably one of the best / most convient in town.

The reception, bars and restaurants were ok, albeit VERY expensive. However the room I had was pretty average. The room had a musty / smokey smell, and you couldn't open the door to the balcony to let in fresh air.

The pool area was also very average.

I haven't stayed at the airways hotel, but I had lunch there on the last day. Even this it is another 10-15 mins out of town, I will be staying there next time. You can't really leave your hotel anyway, so I figure I may as well stay somewhere nice!

I am a regular traveller to Port Moresby and the Crowne is going down hill in terms of service very fast. The airport pickup is not reliable (getting from the airport to the hotel in Port Moresby is difficult at best and is a crucial feature of a hotel stay - the "courtesy bus" was no courtesy that was for sure !). Upon arrival the booking was stuffed up AGAIN (despite having booked the hotel two weeks in advance, checked the day before by email and had a written confirmation!!!). Finally got into a room, TV didn't work, phone didn't work (had to call them on my mobile to come up to the room to fix things). Took them one hour (and two more calls) before somebody finally came. Room service took one hour to bring a plate of french fries. No wake up call was received in the morning of my departure after having been booked the night before, and the breakfast order was not delivered correctly. Now, I know from previous experience that you need to make "allowance" for service in PNG, and you can't really blame the staff I suppose as they aren't well paid or trained. But considering the amount of money you pay for a room (K650 per night!!!) the management wants to wake up and do something about their abysmal performance.

Don't ever stay at the Crowne (the Airways Hotel near the airport is much better although it is a 15-20 minute drive into the business district - I will be staying here from now on and hiring a car for the day - the total cost will not be that different despite the car hire).

Very disappointing, even for Port Moresby's low standards.

I have been comming to this hotel for 3 years, 4 times a year, for a week each time. It seems as though the place is getting more expensive and giving less in return. Mostly the F&B has really deteriorated over the past two years. Reservations has had a lot of "scew ups" in keeping dates and rates. They pride themselves in being #1 in this godforesaken city, they are not. Airways and Lamana have them beat by a mile.

Generally a good hotel, if in need of a refurb. Like everything in PNG, it is more expensive than it ought to be.
Worth booking a room on the "executive" floors so you can get free access to the club lounge, which has computers connected to the internet, and free drinks/snacks at 5.30pm each evening.
If you need in-room internet access and you have a wifi-enabled laptop with you, the reception desk sells "Airspot" wi-fi access airtime. Again, it's expensive but I found it worked well enough.
One criticism I would make: I found that some of the rooms have a lingering bad odour - perhaps caused by guests using buai (betel nut, which is widely chewed in PNG) or eating durian? The balcony windows have all been locked shut, so you can't let in any fresh air. The management ought to do something about this.