Anatomy in the lobby
Hilton’s new owner unveils plans
THE new Hilton Surfers Paradise owner is going to build an anatomy exhibit, complete with real human bodies, at the five-star hotel.
Dr Jerry Schwartz, who settled on his $70-million buy this month, also plans to bring ultra-VIP Schoolies parties to the property, which is set to host a lavish charity launch party to celebrate its new beginning tonight.
Dr Schwartz, whose family company is Australia’s largest private hotel operator, will create new hotel rooms, and redesign the hotel’s lobby as part of his re-development of the Orchid Ave site.
He plans to bring more of the privately-owned residential apartments into the Hilton management pool and build kid-friendly attractions to make the hotel more family-orientated.
The Sydney-based practising doctor, who travelled to the Coast with an oversized fibreglass heart this week, said he’d seen human body displays in Las Vegas and wanted to replicate it here.
“I’m a doctor, a surgeon, so I really love anatomy and I think it would be fantastic to have a display of plastinated bodies and that’s actually what I do plan to put here,” Dr Schwartz said.
“It would be semi-permanent, I’ve actually got access to the display items, so I’ll be able to keep them here.
“That’s for the older kids, to teach them anatomy and the beauty and amazing complexity of the human body.”
Plastination is the same technique used in the popular yet controversial Body Worlds exhibition, which toured Australia late last year.
The technique, pioneered by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, drains bodies of fluids and replaces them with silicone and other substances.
For younger kids visiting the Hilton, playrooms and other more lively attractions are on the agenda.
Dr Schwartz and his planning team had a two-and-ahalf hour meeting with CEO of Hilton and the brand’s development officer to examine his plans for the prestige property.
“I’d like to add more rooms, which I can, because there’s a lot of wasted space,” he said. “Also, I will add more function facilities so that we can have more residential corporate conferencing.
“It should be the best hotel in Surfers Paradise.”
Dr Schwartz said there was scope to host beach parties on the Hilton’s pool podium and to stage high-value VIP parties for Schoolies.
“If you look around the pool area, you could have beach parties,” he said.
“It’s controversial but for Schoolies, I would love to have a really special VIP beach party where you’ve got to pay to get in, but once you do get in, you get the magnificence that you see here.”
The hotel baron, who has 14 hotels around Australia, earlier announced his plans to attract more of the 500 private residential apartments back to his Hilton management pool. More than 100 private apartments are listed externally through real estate agents or online operators like AirBnb.
Owners who return to the management pool will be able to keep using the Hilton brand on their apartments, but those who don’t will be rebranded.
The Hilton charity launch event, which also celebrates the centenary of the Hilton globally, is set to benefit nine charities, which Dr Schwartz hoped would raise thousands of dollars through rooms he donated for their use.