DEVELOPMENT: LIFE’S LITTLE LUXURIES

LIFE’S LITTLE LUXURIES

DEMAND FOR LUXURY AND LIFESTYLE HOTELS HAS RETURNED WITH GUESTS SEEKING QUALITY, MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES DURING THEIR STAY. LEADING HOTEL COMPANIES SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS INTO THIS COMPETITIVE SEGMENT.

ACCOR PACIFIC

Lindsay Leeser, Senior Vice President Development and Franchise

Globally, the luxury and lifestyle segment is bouncing back from the impacts of the pandemic quicker than traditional hotels, driven mostly by local restaurant and bar demand. Hotels with strong restaurant and bar experiences – concepts that integrate the notion of entertainment and feature venues – are generating robust interest and have a strong growth trajectory. Our Ennismore lifestyle brands, with their unique and authentic dining offerings, make each property a destination for both local communities and international travellers.

Australia’s first Mondrian hotel will open on Queensland’s Gold Coast

Concepts are rooted in culture and purpose and hold huge appeal to visiting guests and neighbourhood locals. Hyde Queenstown, Jo&Joe Auckland, Tribe Auckland, 25hours Sydney and Mondrian Gold Coast are great examples of both lifestyle and luxury properties which will open in Australia and New Zealand in 2023-24. With an eye to the future of lifestyle and luxury hotels, consumers are seeking experiences, creativity, and personalisation from the intelligent design of a hotel to its mindful approach to sustainability.

EVT

Norman Arundel, Director of Hotel and Resort Operations

At EVT our vision is to be leaders in creating experiences and properties that escape the ordinary. This vision drives our hotel strategy, where we cater for all segments of the market from luxury to budget. Our luxury brand QT has always been at the forefront of the lifestyle hotel revolution and continues to evolve with the market.

We now have 10 QT hotels across Australia and New Zealand, with Parramatta and Adelaide in the pipeline. The strength of the brand is that each QT experience and design is a bespoke integration of the best local and international inspirations – designed for the new-age luxury traveller, elevated by expertly curated F&B concepts, and all delivered with our unique QT service. The QT service is delivered by our Directors of Chaos, our people, hired for their individuality and relatability – we don’t make them QT, they help QT be unique.

There are now 10 QT hotels across ANZ

As an experienced owner/operator, it is all about maximising assets.From major ground up developments, to conversions and updating key

assets. We recognise the importance of continually growing the value of each asset, and commercialising under-utilised spaces. A great example is qtQT – a new luxury cabin experience on the rooftop of QT Gold Coast – launching later this year. This unique offering is for the new age traveller, group stays or an innovative event option.

We also recognise the importance of digitalising the customer experience and have invested in the technology for creating a seamless guest experience.

HILTON

APAC Paul Hutton, Area Vice President - Head of Australasia

As we emerge from the pandemic, we know that pent-up travel demand is real and the long-term future for travel is bright. With this, our growth and development momentum has not wavered, and our strategy to double our Australian footprint within the next five years remains very much in our sights. We are always looking for opportunities to expand our luxury presence within the region.

Hilton’s development strategy is to introduce our world-class brands in key markets at the right time with the right partners, building on our extensive experience in delivering unmatched hospitality experiences. Australasia is one of those key markets, with our recent Waldorf Astoria Sydney signing exemplifying this commitment.

Sydney is a top-performing hotel market in Australia, so we are extremely thrilled to be introducing the iconic Waldorf Astoria brand to the city. The hotel will serve as the crown jewel of our growing pipeline portfolio of 13 properties in the region.

Waldorf Astoria Sydney on Circular Quay is set to open in Q4 2026

The luxury hotel brand, which began in New York City in 1893 with a single hotel that Conrad Hilton dubbed The Greatest of Them All, has grown into a portfolio of more than 30 iconic properties in the world’s most sought-after destinations.

Slated to open in Q4 2026, Waldorf Astoria Sydney’s location on Circular Quay is considered one of the prime harbourside locations in Australia, and nearly half of the 220 guest rooms will enjoy a direct view of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge.

IHG HOTELS AND RESORTS

Matt Tripolone, Managing Director – Australasia & Pacific

Guests are increasingly looking for hyper-local, experiential travel, and lifestyle brands such as Hotel Indigo and Kimpton excel in this space, playing on the culture and heritage of the local neighbourhood through inspired design, culinary experiences and service.

Hotel Indigo Brisbane City Centre recently opened and has done an incredible job of weaving in local neighbourhood stories through the power of art. A huge blue wren artwork by Blends was inspired by local author Trent Dalton and his renowned novel Boy Swallows Universe, while a huge mural at the entrance to the hotel by Bronte Naylor and James Hornsby depicts the legacy of the suffrage movement in Brisbane. These artworks inspire conversation and interaction and are a huge asset to the hotel and help shape what our Hotel Indigo brand stands for.

InterContinental Sorrento Mornington Peninsula offers guest a luxury resort by the sea

F&B is undoubtedly a big focus in the luxury and lifestyle space right now. Owners are keen to create engaging F&B concepts in their hotels and our luxury and lifestyle brands rise to the occasion every time. Our hotels have fantastic partnerships with well-known chefs, such as Luke Mangan at Kimpton Margot Sydney and Scott Pickett at InterContinental Sorrento. What these pairings do, is create an added level of exclusivity and allure for guests staying at our hotels and we’re excited to be growing our partnerships in the F&B space as we move through the rest of the year.

New Zealand, which has long been a mecca for the luxury seeker, is a market we are seeing strong growth, with owners keen to grow their luxury and lifestyle footprint in the country. Construction has commenced on the new InterContinental Auckland, which promises to bring next generation luxury to the city when it opens in 2023, and we have just opened voco Auckland with partners Pro-invest which boasts the city’s tallest rooftop bar. We are hoping to continue the momentum with more growth in the New Zealand market to come.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL

Richard Crawford, Vice President of Hotel Development - Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific

As the world’s largest hotelier, Marriott International manages and franchises hotels across all tiers of accommodation. Most notably, we are recognised as the global leader in the luxury accommodation segment, with The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, W Hotels, Edition, The Luxury Collection, and Bvlgaribrands enjoying dominant market profiles and growing footprints.

Lifestyle brands, however, are not exclusively the domain of the luxury tier of accommodation, with Marriott’s mid-tier brands including AC Hotels by Marriott and Moxy offering distinctive contemporary accommodation at affordable price points. And, our upper-upscale brands including Westin, Le Meridien, and Autograph Collection provide engaging lifestyle offerings in the traditional five-star segment.

A feature of Marriott’s current period of growth has been reinvigoration in the luxury accommodation segment in Australia, buoyed by a resurgent affluent domestic travel market. W Brisbane, W Melbourne, The Ritz-Carlton Perth, JW Marriott Gold Coast and The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, have been our most resilient performers, throughout our industry’s most challenging time.

W Sydney is set to open at The Ribbon development in 2023

Record average room rates at these hotels has given confidence to hotel developers, who recognise there is now a strong business case for luxury hotels in Australia. This investor appetite will see Marriott announcing new-build luxury resorts coming to Australia before the end of the year.

Already announced, and all set to open in 2023, The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne, W Sydney, Le Meridien Melbourne, and Moxy SydneyAirport will reinforce Marriott’s position as the leaders in luxury and lifestyle hotels in Australia, and provide further world-class examples of how we are reshaping the quality and diversity of our local industry.

TFE HOTELS

John Sutcliffe, Director of Development

There continues to be significant interest in our high-end Collection by TFE Hotels and A by Adinabrands as we seek to strategically expand these portfolios in carefully selected locations, with development partners that share our passion and belief in delivering world-class offerings.

High levels of intuitive guest service in truly boutique hotels will continue to be in high demand as the world continues to recover from the pandemic. Corporate and leisure travellers alike will continue to seek out hotels that offer a seamless experience that can be tailored to meet their requirements each time.

There is much excitement surrounding our recent announcements in Sydney’s Surry Hills, and in Melbourne’s Docklands – where these two homegrown brands will stand side by side in what will be an iconic Australian hotel development. I believe this really demonstrates the appeal of these brands for owners looking to build legacy hotels that stand out from the crowd.

Collection by TFE will make its Sydney debut in Surry Hills

It is not, however, just the aesthetics that drive the success of these brands. The guest experience delivered by the teams in these hotels consistently exceeds expectations. Whether this is delivered through destination F&B venues, bespoke experiences or simply the unobtrusive but ever-present high levels of service our guests continue to love from our Collection and A by Adina hotels. In turn, these hotels not only provide a legacy development for our owners to be proud of, they also deliver returns that ensure that these hotels are as commercially viable as they are striking.

We are chuffed that there is significant level of interest in these brands from investors and developers. And, moving forward, I look forward to further announcements as we continue to strategically grow our Collections and A by Adina portfolios with owners who share our passion in developing hotels that stand out in market.

WYNDHAM DESTINATIONS

Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director, International Operations

Travel has changed and our vacation ownership and hotel management businesses are experiencing it. Travellers have sought high-end experiences for years, but that desire has intensified after two years of limited opportunities.

Our Club Wyndham Flynns Beach expansion meets that luxury trend, with all 53 new villas built to Deluxe, Grand and Presidential standards. The four-bedroom Presidentials were designed as unique accommodation

for the region with a bathroom for every bedroom, full kitchen, laundry, deck with outdoor spa and large balcony. Guests love these and have rated their stays between 9 to 10 on average since opening.

We have since developed four-bedroom Presidentials at ClubWyndham Airlie Beach. These are unparalleled in the region, with substantial living spaces, main bedrooms with separate lounge and bar areas, expansive kitchens, media room and oversized balcony with outdoor tub, rain showers and breathtaking Whitsunday Passage views.

Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort Bali reports rising demand from Australians for luxury suites

Starting with our original Presidentials at Wanaka and Fiji, we have expanded our Presidential collection to 12 Asia Pacific properties. These apartments enjoy occupancies averaging 95% to 100% and outstanding reviews.

In Asia, we are seeing rising demand from Australians for luxury suites at Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay and Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort Bali. We also anticipate making additions in the luxury space this year.