‘$500 a night' Ritz-Carlton heads to the Gold Coast
Marriott will bring one of the world’s best known luxury brands, Ritz-Carlton, to the Gold Coast in 2026 after striking a deal with Melbourne developers Ross Pelligra and Dion Giannarelli to operate a 150-room hotel at their $480 million Mariner’s Cove hospitality and marina precinct.
“The timing is right for a Ritz-Carlton on the Gold Coast,” said Richard Crawford, who heads up Marriott’s hotel development for Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific.
“Affluent domestic travel is alive and well. We’ve had a record year at our existing resorts on the Gold Coast. We have confidence in a Ritz-Carlton hotel at this location.”
Mr Crawford added that all the metrics stacked up: “We now know that Australians will spend $500 a night for a [luxury] hotel room. We did not know that before the pandemic.”
In addition, being a relatively small luxury hotel made it less risky. “A 300-room [Ritz-Carlton] would have been an entirely different business case,” Mr Crawford said.
Comprising just 100 hotels around the world, Australia will be well-serviced by three Ritz-Carltons once the Gold Coast hotel opens its doors in four years.
The iconic brand returned to Australian shores after an 18-year hiatus in 2019 when the 205-room Perth Ritz-Carlton opened its doors.
Next year, a Ritz-Carlton overlooking Southern Cross Station in the Melbourne CBD will begin trading, part of a big pipeline of luxury Marriott hotels in development or under construction in Australia, including a W Hotel in Sydney.
For developers Pelligra Group and Giannarelli Group, the Ritz-Carlton will be the focal point for its new waterfront development at Mariner’s Cove.
Situated at the northern end of the Gold Coast, the project will also include a super yacht marina and large restaurant precinct on an 1.15 hectare site at 60-64 Sea World Drive on Southport Spit.
The developers struck a $54 million deal last Christmas to acquire the Mariner’s Cove land lease and 2.8 hectare sea-bed lease with a 100 marina berth from Chinese developer Ridong, after previous high-rise proposals on the site failed.
Mr Pelligra, who has accumulated a large hotel portfolio including projects in Melbourne and Adelaide, said the hotel would be the “centrepiece” of a U-shaped, low-rise development proposal that was lodged with the City of Gold Coast in August.
“We’ve designed the hotel as the centrepiece of this project. The attraction is the hotel,” he told the Financial Review.
Dismissing the Gold Coast’s boom-and-bust history, he said the Ritz-Carlton would be well-supported by rising hotel rates.
“Every time I come to the Gold Coast and want to stay at the Sheraton or the Palazzo Versace, they are booked out,” Mr Pelligra said.
“We are confident The Ritz-Carlton, Gold Coast will be one of the world’s finest luxury resorts,” added Dion Giannarelli, CEO at Giannarelli Group.