All about identity - Feb 2009

Hotel Ibis King St Wharf

“It is significant that the only new build hotel to open in the CBD this decade is an economy-sector hotel,” said Mr Issenberg, Accor’s Asia Pacific Managing Director.

Hotel Ibis King Street Wharf is an eight-storey, 91-room hotel, and is part of a combined retail and hotel development that covers approximately 1490 square metres of prime real estate on the corner of Shelley and Erskine Streets at King Street Wharf. The entire project cost close to $30 million.

Mr Issenberg said, “While many of the city’s upscale hotels such as the Sofitel Wentworth Sydney have been extensively refurbished and upgraded, the cost of CBD land has made the development of new-build hotels extremely prohibitive. On the other hand, economy hotels such as Ibis put their major emphasis on rooms, rather than restaurants and meeting space, so while the block of land is relatively compact, its design maximises the room capacity, allowing us to offer a very competitive rate for such a prestigious location.”

“Accor has been one of very few hotel groups to have developed new hotels in Australia this decade. We have opened a number of new-build properties across the country this decade, including the 5-star Pullman and 2-star Formule 1 at Sydney Olympic Park. Where we believe demand exists, and where the project is viable, we will definitely look to develop further new hotels.”

“Ibis is growing rapidly as a brand across the Asia Pacific region, and we anticipate having over 100 Ibis hotels under development in China within the next three years. The brand is also growing rapidly in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Korea.”

The building signage for Hotel Ibis King St Wharf was supplied and installed by Albert Smith Group in the New Year. Due the restrictive access the high level signs, located on 3 elevations, were installed via rope access. The distinctive Hotel Ibis signs can be seen from as far as Darling Harbour and by motorists travelling on the Wharf Road overpass.