SD › Tonga Hotels › Emerald Hotel & Restaurant Review
Updated: January 5, 2021
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Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – Convenient, popular, spacious, and seaside.
Offering a prime esplanade setting, the Emerald is the closest to the town center – barely ten minutes – of the several hotels along the eastern esplanade. Although it doesn’t seem much from the outside, all rooms are pleasingly spacious. The suites feature rather plush and oversized sofas that are comfortable in a typically unstated Tongan way. The Deluxe Rooms face the side of the building, though the views are still decent. Other benefits are the Chinese restaurant downstairs and proximity to a bus terminal just across the road for services to the eastern part of the island.
Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – The Basics
- Location: Along the eastern end of Vuna Road, the esplanade in the capital Nuku’alofa on the main island. About 500m from downtown and 40 minutes from the airport.
- Guests: Focuses on business people, but all are welcome and catered to.
- Beach: There is no beach in or around Nuku’alofa. The closest serviceable beach is at Ha’atafu on the far western tip, about 20 km away.
- Views: Rooms facing the front have uninterrupted sea views, but also overlook the main road which is fairly quiet. However, most have views of neighboring buildings and gardens to the side.
- Wi-Fi: Ask management about free access when booking.
- Parking: Plenty of free parking.
- How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
- Phone: (676) 22888
- Email: gm@emeraldhoteltonga.to
- Website: emerald-tonga.com
Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – Amenities
- Pool, Spa & Fitness Center: Not expected or provided at this range of hotel in Tonga.
- Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Not expected or provided.
Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – Food and Drink
- Restaurant & Bar: The Emerald Chinese restaurant is on the ground floor. Typically cavernous, its authentic cuisine attracts large groups of Chinese (always a good sign). Importantly, it’s open on Sundays, when most of Tonga closes down. Takeaway also available.
- Breakfast: A modest continental breakfast is included in the rates.
- Room Service: Available during normal restaurant hours – 12 pm to 9 pm.
Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – Rooms
- Room Types: Standard Room • Deluxe Room • Suite
- Smoking Rooms: Smoking is permitted in a selected number of rooms, although this is not generally advertised or known.
- Best Room: Facing the front and offering direct sea views from the balcony, the Suites are very spacious and feature inviting leather sofas.
Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – What’s Nearby?
Best Nearby Restaurants & Bars
- Fresh Bar and Grill – Decent restaurant with a bar specializing in seafood and imported steaks. At the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel, almost next to the Emerald.
- Friends Café – Very popular, if only for the free and reliable Wi-Fi. Claims to have the ‘best coffee in town’, but also offers delicious meals, gifts, and tours. Easy to find at a corner on the main street, Taufa’ahau Road in downtown, about 600m away.
- Marco’s Pizza Pasta – Only 650m away, but hard to find in a side street (Unga Road) 2 blocks southeast of Friends. Relaxed, with garden seats and live music on weekends. Also, fish, grills, salads, and tasty desserts.
- Ngutulei Bar & Restaurant – Always popular with expats for its fascinating port-side setting, steaks, seafood, and gossip. About 1.5 km along the esplanade away from town.
- Billfish Bar & Restaurant – Expat hangout, with live music, endless rugby on TV, and pub meals. Also popular for draft beer, quiz nights, and happy hours. Nearly 2 km further along the esplanade from the Emerald. Take a taxi.
Nearby Market or Grocery
- There are a couple of basic supermarkets along the esplanade, but a better selection along with the produce and handicraft markets, are in the town center about 500m away.
Local Transport
Walkable to the town center. The bus terminal across the road has services to places of little interest to tourists in the eastern part of the island.
Emerald Hotel & Restaurant – The Hotel

The Emerald Hotel doesn’t look much from the road, but is far better than the outside suggests.

Downstairs is the popular and rather cavernous Chinese restaurant.

The hotel is located along the eastern end of the esplanade, in the capital, Nuku’alofa.

The suites facing the front of the hotel feature plush leather sofas.

The Deluxe Rooms are a little like a motel, but spacious enough.

The Deluxe Rooms face the side of the building, without sea views.

The Suites at the front face the sea, with the esplanade in between, although the road is fairly quiet.

Directly opposite the hotel is an extended park alongside the sea.

Don’t be surprised if some pigs share the seaside park across the road from the hotel.

About 1 km further along the esplanade, away from town, is the port area with a fish market every morning.

Directly across the road is a bus terminal for services to the east of the island.

The hotel is only 500m from downtown Nuku’alofa.

There are some colorful buildings and patches of greenery in the center of the capital.

Nuku’alofa offers a limited supply of places to eat, drink, and shop.

One of the many places of worship in this deeply religious country is the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua along the main street, Taufa’ahua Road.

Worth visiting is the extended Talamahu Market in the capital, about 500m from the hotel.

The Langafonua Handicrafts Centre is the best place to check out and buy local souvenirs. It’s along the main street in the town center, next to the Friends Café.

The Billfish Bar & Restaurant is a real pub and popular with expats. Take a taxi because it’s about 2 km away, but worthwhile.

Friends Café, along the main street in the town centre about 500m from the hotel, is popular for tasty food and free Wi-Fi.

About 1.5 km along the esplanade away from town, Ngutulei is a very popular expat hangout that faces the harbor.

Next to the Emerald, the restaurant in the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel looks simple, but offers a good range of meals.
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