As the countdown begins to the opening of its first Australian property – a I Hotel on the north bank of Melbourne’s Yarra – SH Hotels chief executive Raul Leal told The Australian Financial Review his team had been “talking to some local developers” about bringing its top-end flagship brand to Sydney.
He later added that Melbourne was also a potential market for a Baccarat hotel.
“In Australia, we think there is a lack of luxury hotel product in the market, definitely not at the Baccarat level,” he said.
There is currently only one Baccarat hotel open around the world – a 50-storey opulent skyscraper near New York’s Central Park, which opened in 2015. Another six or seven Baccarats were under way, Mr Leal said, including in Miami, Dubai, Rome and Riyadh.
The Parisian-inspired hotel brand takes its name from the French crystal and chandelier maker of the same name. The New York Baccarat hotel includes 17 custom-produced chandeliers in its public areas, an 18-metre bar inspired by the stables at Chateau de Versailles, and bespoke products by Baccarat and other highbrow European designers in its opulent rooms.
Plans to bring Baccarat to Australia come as SH Hotels added a second Australian hotel to its pipeline, after announcing last week that its first Treehouse Hotel would open in the $400 million Market Square development in Adelaide, by ICD Property and the City of Adelaide.
The 248-room “upbeat lifestyle” hotel is due to be completed by 2026 as part of the expansion of the 1869- built Adelaide Central Market.
In Melbourne, the country’s first 1 Hotel is coming out of the ground as part of local developer Riverlee’s $550 million Seafarers project at the historic Goods Shed site.
The 18-storey development, which includes 113 branded apartments and a 1000-seat function centre, is due to top out in January and be completed before the end of 2024. As with all other 1 Hotels, 1 Hotel Melbourne will incorporate significant amounts of reclaimed and recycled materials and repurpose the 1941-built maritime goods shed.
Mr Leal said SH Hotels was also looking to bring 1 Hotels to Sydney as it makes Australia a hub for its expansion in the Asia Pacific region.
“We are exiting about growing all three brands in different parts of the country,” he said.
Describing Australia as a “still a bit of an undiscovered country with lots of opportunities”, Mr Leal said SH Hotels would establish a regional office in Australia and appoint a local manager.
“We expect to have several projects here over the years,” he said.
SH Hotels & Resorts is an affiliate of global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group, founded by Mr Sternlicht in 1991, and has US$115 billion ($180 billion) of assets under management.
The American hotelier founded Starwood Hotels, which merged with Marriott International in 2016 to create the world’s biggest hotel company.
