LUXURY ON BEACHFRONT
LUXURY hotel group Marriott’s St Regis brand is firming as operator of the Gold Coast’s Jewel resort after flailing Chinese company Wanda Hotels walked from an agreement to manage the beachfront gem.
A source close to the project yesterday said St Regis was “almost certainly” going to be the hotel brand at the Coast’s biggest construction site on the Surfers Paradise beachfront.
If completed by mid-2019 as scheduled, the 169-room hotel would be the first St Regis in the country. The revelation comes as more details emerge about why construction has been delayed on the $1.4 billion project.
LUXURY hotel group Marriott’s St Regis brand is firming as operator of the Gold Coast’s Jewel resort after flailing Chinese company Wanda Hotels walked from an agreement to manage the beachfront gem.
The Bulletin understands Marriott International is among big names to express interest in the 169-room Jewel hotel, a deal that would likely see one of its top-end brands settle into the Surfers Paradise beachfront.
A source close to the project yesterday said St Regis is “almost certainly” going to be the hotel brand at Jewel.
If completed by mid-2019 as scheduled it would be the first St Regis in the country, beating one earmarked for Melbourne in 2022. The revelation comes as more details emerge about why construction has been delayed on the $1.4 billion project.
The change in management of the hotel, to be housed in the project’s middle tower, coincides with a major disruption of its construction after new developers Yuhu Group moved to adjust specifications on the residential apartments.
Insiders say previous owner Wanda, under siege from the Chinese Government and bleeding from its foreign investments, had cut costs by importing cheap supplies for the apartments, which it believed would be snapped up by Chinese investors nonetheless.
However, Yuhu Group, widening its market to include potential buyers from the Middle East, India and New Zealand, quickly realised the specifications did not match the price point and is understood to have committed an extra $120 million to achieve a higher-quality result.
The request has apparently left building contractor Multiplex in a bind, with subcontractors already working in line with scores of existing contracts, making the variations legally complex. Work has all but stopped for a fortnight, with 400 workers stood down and another 400 jobs uncertain.
Documents lodged with Hong Kong Stock Exchange during Yuhu’s purchase of Jewel and the One Quay development in Sydney reveal it was a condition of the sale that Wanda would manage both hotels under the new ownership.
However, Wanda and Yuhu have since agreed not to honour that part of the contract and the hotel management rights were put to an international expressions of interest campaign.
Yuhu Group is expected to confirm the Gold Coast hotel operator by the end of November. Marriott International operates high-end hotel brands, including Ritz-Carlton, Bvlgari and Luxury Collection.
Marriott’s Luxury Collection hotels are established in striking buildings in prime locations around the world. Marriott did not reply to the Bulletin’s request for comment.
A Yuhu Group statement said “several major international hospitality groups” had visited Jewel.
“It is expected the hotel operator will be selected in weeks. As is common practice, Yuhu will take guidance from the chosen operator when finalising design and configuration elements to ensure the hotel also reflects the operator’s signature characteristics and feel.
“Plans were made in the construction schedule to allow for the selected operator to add its own touches to the hotel, such as feature walls in the podium levels, without causing any delay to overall project completion schedule.”
Construction union reps and workers continued to picket at the Jewel site yesterday where a source has said $300m worth of work is stil to be done.