Heugh Road's notorious "pay by the hour" Habba Habba Hotel has been reinvented and Walmer residents will be pleased to know that it is now an up-market lodge and backpacker hostel.

Interim manager and launch co-ordinator Toni Coetzee, who has also been affiliated with Port Elizabeth's infamous Go-Go Lounge, said she was "very excited" at the prospects of what she called a very well put together project.

"We're all very keen to get started with this," said Toni. "The HHH will be a great tourist spot, as we plan on serving good food and having a pretty regular live gig line-up, although during the day so as not to disturb our neighbours at night.

"I don't really feel enough places in this town cater to the daytime crowd. Live bands are commonplace, but only at night. The HHH will be looking to fill this gap in the late afternoons."

The establishment will be run and managed by Coetzee's two sons. "I'm just here to help get it all started and off the ground," she said.

"We hope to attract tourists and backpackers, as well as locals or executives for corporate functions. We're quite respectable, and we're really hoping for a positive response."

Eastern Province Herald