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COVER STORY: CELEBRATING 21 YEARS OF AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALITY
Celebrating 21 years of Australian hospitality
Vibe Hotels notches 21 years of operation in Australia in 2024, and the homegrown hospitality brand is set for a bumper future with new venues and more openings on the horizon.
As the MICE industry innovates and rebuilds its pipeline of domestic and international events, homegrown hotel brand Vibe Hotels has been quietly reinventing itself and providing buyers and planners with a locally owned option for their next big event.
According to TFE Hotels’ global sales officer, Shahnaz Bakhshay, 2023 was a milestone year for the company’s lifestyle brand as Vibe Hotels completed a lap of the Aussie map. She says 2024 promises further innovation as Vibe celebrates 21 years of operations in Australia and redoubles efforts to provide its trademark Australian hospitality.
“Vibe Hotels has come of age,” says Bakhshay. “Each hotel opening during the past few years has delivered architecturally designed flagship hotels that are beautiful in form and function, and located in very desirable destinations for our MICE partners.”
The newest of the brand’s hotels, Vibe Hotel Adelaide, is a 123-room design property that signifies completion of the Flinders East precinct, which was more than 20 years in the making by its South Australian developers, GuavaLime and Loucas Zahos Architects.
It is strategic partnerships such as this and others – including Tasmania’s Raadas Property Group at Vibe Hotel Hobart, and with TOGA Group in Darwin – that Bakhshay says ensures Vibe goes beyond being just a hotel, to providing a taste of local culture and fostering a sense of connection to the community.
“What I like about Vibe Adelaide is our local owner/ developers have infused a distinctly South Australian flavour into the fabric of the hotel,” she says. “From a stunning serpentine chandelier suspended from a raw concrete ceiling in the lobby, and pressed metal artwork – sourced, designed and printed in South Australia – to a colour palette infused with Australian colours. Not to mention views to Adelaide Hills from the bathtubs in the hotel’s Urban Retreat rooms.”
Each hotel opening during the past few years has delivered architecturally designed flagship hotels that are beautiful in form and function.
Superbly placed for events, Vibe Adelaide is in a prime location for guests to experience events such as Adelaide Fringe Festival, VAILO Adelaide 500 and WOMAD. It is located close to major event centres such as the National Wine Centre and Adelaide Oval, and is within striking distance to Adelaide Convention Centre.
In capital cities around Australia, the Vibe brand continues to innovate, with Vibe Hotel Melbourne recently unveiling plans for a rooftop venue conceptualised by some of Australia’s leading creative minds, including interior designer Paul Kelly.
According to Bakhshay, the venue provides the perfect accompaniment to the hotel’s existing conference space.
“Our team takes great pride in the raft of smartly designed architectural spaces we currently have on offer,” she says. “At Vibe Melbourne, expect to soak in incredible views of the Yarra River, city and Southbank from the venue’s expansive terrace; sip on perfectly balanced cocktails; and dine on a thoughtful menu that pays homage to Melbourne’s best producers when the rooftop venue, Fleet, opens later this year.”
Given the work-from-home world we live in, Bakhshay believes that now, more than ever, conferences are a forum where people come together, interact, share ideas, collaborate and have a lot of fun. And with its laid-back vibe, this Aussie brand is set to deliver.
By design, Storehouse Perth Subiaco exudes a fun atmosphere atop the Vibe Hotel. The star of the show is a 240-square-metre rooftop space that provides conference attendees with a memorable breakout space and knockout views of Perth’s CBD.
Queensland’s popularity as a corporate events and incentives destination continues to boom, and Vibe Hotel Gold Coast, which straddles Nerang River and Surfers Paradise beach, takes full advantage of the sunny weather with optional extras such as tai chi on the lawn.
In Australia’s Top End, Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront – a stone’s throw from the city’s convention centre – offers delegates the chance to immerse in Aboriginal culture through the team’s links with the local Larrakia mob.
Each of Vibe Hotel North Sydney, Vibe Hotel Darling Harbour – with its Above 319 rooftop space – Vibe Hotel Sydney and Vibe Hotel Canberra Airport provide the hallmarks of good conferencing: natural light, the latest technology, and hybrid facilities, served with a generous dose of Aussie hospitality.
With a Vibe Hotel in Singapore, a new Vibe Hotel coming to inner-city Melbourne in 2024, and Vibe Hotel Westmead, in Sydney, slated to open in 2026, the Vibe brand is positioning itself as one of the nation’s best MICE lifestyle options.
As Bakhshay enthuses, the best is yet to come.
