Park Hyatt Melbourne sells for $200m in biggest hotel deal this year
Park Hyatt Melbourne has sold for more than $200 million, the biggest hotel transaction in Australia so far this year. Photo:

Park Hyatt Melbourne sells for $200m in biggest hotel deal this year

Thai hospitality group KS Hotels has snapped up the Park Hyatt Melbourne for more than $200 million, marking the biggest hotel sale in Australia so far this year.

The transaction signals the exit of owner Hong Kong-based firm Fu Wah International from the Australian hotel market. It purchased the prominent hotel 13 years ago for about $135 million from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Park Hyatt Melbourne has sold for more than $200 million, the biggest hotel transaction in Australia so far this year.
Park Hyatt Melbourne has sold for more than $200 million, the biggest hotel transaction in Australia so far this year.

The transaction comes amid a robust period in the hospitality sector, with strong travel numbers and major events helping to push occupancy levels higher in the first half of 2025.

The Park Hyatt is one of Melbourne’s best-known hotels. It stands at the ritzy east end of the city in the parliamentary precinct, just outside the CBD. With 245 rooms, a pool and restaurants, its conference and event spaces are also a drawcard for corporates.

Its new owner, Thailand’s KS Hotels, is in a growth phase and has already entered the Australian market on the Gold Coast. It has struck a deal with Marriott to transform the Vibe Hotel in Surfer’s Paradise into the Marriott AC Hotel Gold Coast, which is due to open in mid-2026.

The Thai player has been expanding in the region, with acquisitions of the La Residence hotels in Laos and Cambodia last year.

The price paid for the Melbourne hotel just pips the $205 million deal when Intercontinental Double Bay was sold in Sydney last year. That transaction settled in February, with a $1 billion lifestyle precinct to be developed there by Allen Linz, Eduard Litver and Mervyn Basserabie.

The Park Hyatt deal also eclipses the previous 2025 benchmark in Melbourne, set when private credit platform Merricks Capital developed and sold the Melbourne Place Hotel to Accor for $143 million, now operating as Hyde Melbourne Place.

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The Park Hyatt Melbourne deal was brokered by JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s Peter Harper, Nick MacFie and Camilla Tamburini.

Harper declined to comment on the transaction details but said it demonstrated how much Melbourne rated as a destination in the Asia Pacific hospitality investment market.

“[The hotel listing received] an incredible level of interest from both offshore and domestic buyers with over 120 enquiries received and 25 inspections undertaken,” he said. “It represents the largest hotel transaction in Australia this year.”

James Goodwin, chief executive at Accommodation Australia, said KS Hotels purchase showed the confidence in the nation’s hotel sector, especially Melbourne.

“Melbourne has had a tough period for the past couple of years, but we’ve got green shoots coming through in growth in occupancy across the city,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

“We’ve also seen a number of new developments across the city that have increased the room numbers in the CBD area.

“This highlights that there is strong confidence in the sector despite some of the challenges that I’ve been seeing.”