Australia’s top privately-owned apartment builder, Meriton has added a valuable hotel portfolio to the business
Meriton Suites continues to invest heavily in the future of tourism, with a pipeline of six new hotels opening over the next three years
25 October 2019 | AAP Medianet
Developer Harry Triguboff’s Meriton Suites hotel chain, poised to add a third Gold Coast hotel to its portfolio, has won a premier Queensland award for the third year running.
The award, announced at the Queensland Hotel Association’s annual awards this week, was for Meriton Suites Southport in the best suites and apartment accommodation category. The association has decided, in recognition of Meriton Suites third win, that it will induct the property into its Hall of Fame.
The Meriton Suites Southport hotel is in Sundale, a tower overlooking the Southport Broadwater which was completed in late 2016. The 208 suites start at level 25 in the 55-floor tower.
The group also owns and operates a 413-suite hotel at Broadbeach and has construction under way on a Surfers Paradise property. The 74-level Ocean building on The Esplanade will have 332 suites spread over the tower’s first 31 floors.
Mr Triguboff, founder of the Meriton group, yesterday said the latest award for the Southport hotel was further recognition that the 19-property chain was leading the way in a relatively new sector within the tourism industry.
“The award confirms our view that the modern-day traveller is looking for more space and value for money. “The success of our two existing Gold Coast hotels verifies this – they’re running at close to 90 per cent occupancy.”
The Southport property’s success comes on the heels of other awards being won by Meriton Suites in the past 12 months. They include Meriton Suites World Tower in Sydney being voted No.1 for families in Australia and the South Pacific in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards.
A sister property, Meriton Suites North Sydney, won the best apartment/suite hotel of the year at the 2018 NSW Tourism Accommodation Australian awards for excellence.
Mr Triguboff said the award-winning Southport hotel, like all others in the Meriton Suites stable, was meeting a demand from tourists and visitors for accommodation versatility. “Our suites are big enough for groups or families who want to stay together, as opposed to being spread around a regular hotel.”
Meriton Suites has 4,953 suites in NSW and Queensland, ranging from studios up to four-bedroom options. Mr Triguboff said the group was supremely confident in the Australian tourism industry, which contributed $57 billion a year to the economy, and its robust growth path.
“Meriton Suites continues to invest heavily in the future of tourism, with a pipeline of six new hotels opening over the next three years. Our confidence in tourism has seen us broaden our scope outside NSW and Queensland – we recently have bought sites in Melbourne and Canberra.”
Mr Triguboff said the new hotels would replicate the Meriton Suites winning formula of offering guests a virtual home away from home, with fully-equipped kitchens, open-plan living areas, large bedrooms and internal laundries. He said Meriton Suites was geared for a busy summer at its properties as tourists headed to Australia to enjoy warmer weather and an array of seasonal events.