Siwai Lodge might be my new favorite hotel, bar and restaurant in Goroka, although with scant competition this is not quite the endorsement that it sounds.
I was to discover this place at the 2024 Goroka Show, with Young Pioneer Tours, with it being an alternative to our usual Phoenix Hotel.
The Goroka Hotel Scene
The Goroka Hotel scene is not very good to put it mildly, this being despite the fact that they host a major show. In this respects it reminds me a lot of North Korea in that it is either too full or too empty.
Tha main deluxe hotel here is the Bird of Paradise, with it then going to lodges and “local hotels”. You do not want to try a local hotel, as I found out the hard way.
The Siwai Lodge
So, Siwai apparently means tree in Tok Pisin in case you wee wondering! I did not see that many trees here, but the rooms were really nice (for the price) and had a balcony for me to smoke on. I enjoy the simple things in life.
Hot water was hit or miss and wifi was largely only in the restaurant, but I can forgive these very small transgressions. The restaurant though was a big hit.
Siwai Lodge Restaurant and Bar
They have a good ala-carte menu for breakfast and dinner here, but I was extra smart and introduced them to the breakfast buffet idea, which went down a treat.
Food wise the menu here is simple, but included steak. I will later do a steak in Papua New Guinea article, but lets just say rare is a rare thing here and it can go wrong in the wrong place. In fairness they got mine just right and it was great value at $12 or so.
They have curries and the like, but it is mostly about meat and potato here. They also had the Rugby on the TV which drew a crowd, but no beer and only wine. We obviously frank the wine! And they were even good enough to bring me some local ginger carnet of Paiawara.