HOTEL TO CHECK IN
AN UP-MARKET rooftop bar overlooking the Esplanade is set to launch after the coronavirus lockdown has run its course as a new hotel chain makes a foray into Cairns.
Construction is on schedule for a new five-storey, 4.5-star hotel and rooftop bar above the McDonald’s restaurant on the Cairns Esplanade.
Night Owl franchisor Adam Adams and business partners Paul and Kim Kelly are behind the ambitious project to bring a new swanky accommodation offering to the Far North.
The building has been known as Esplanade Central during the planning and construction stage, but the hotel itself will undergo a name change once its new operators take the reins.
Mr Adams said Oaks Hotels, Resorts and Suites had leased the property and would take over on September 1.
“They’re going to be fully running the operation, including a rooftop bar,” he said.
“It will be fully managed and operated by them.
“They want to be operating in the last quarter of this year.
“They are very confident and allowing for the current state of affairs to finish.
“They’re comfortable that by that time, they will be able to open for business.”
Oaks Hotels, Resorts and Suites has carved out a niche as a leader in modern residential-style accommodation across Australia and New Zealand, although it also has properties in India, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
It has more than 60 properties in Australia and New Zealand and specialises in selfcontained apartment-style living for business travellers and tourists alike.
The Oaks Port Douglas is currently the company’s closest resort to Cairns.
It features a large lagoonstyle pool – something the
Cairns hotel lacks but makes up for by its position directly across the road from the Esplanade Lagoon.
The timing might seem inopportune, but on current estimates, the September opening should coincide with some measure of travel opening up – and a renewed local appetite for social nightlife providing the perfect springboard for the bar’s grand opening.
Mr Adams said the bar’s final design was still under wraps but customers could expect a deluxe affair.
“They are still working on the exact concepts but it’s pretty upmarket,” he said.
“They’re very much trying to replicate some of the themes from down south.”