‘We need open borders more than we need the tennis’

As he threw open the doors to Melbourne’s first new luxury hotel in more than 20 years, Marriott regional boss Sean Hunt questioned the logic of hosting the Australian Open.

“We’re bringing in all these people from the US and Europe,” said Mr Hunt on a day when tighter restrictions were put in a place across Victoria after a Melbourne hotel quarantine worker was infected with COVID-19.

While hotels like Marriott’s freshly minted 294-room W Melbourne would usually welcome the flood of bookings and higher room rates that would come from major events like the Australian Open, due to start on Monday, Mr Hunt said the focus needed to be on local events and ensuring that state borders remain open.

With the tennis bringing in hundreds of players from around the world, and many new COVID-19 cases, the risks far outweigh the benefits, Mr Hunt said.

“Marriott has the largest loyalty program in the world with 140 million members. But the reality is that not many of those will be travelling to Melbourne in the near future with international borders closed.”

But, he said, in the short term, the focus of hotel companies like Marriott, was on a domestic-tourism led recovery which meant “getting consistency across state borders”.

“Aussies and Kiwis spend $65 billion each year on outbound travel. If we can get a little bit of that spent closer to home, then brands like W can induce demand,”

“We are seeing that already with our staycation and leisure business. The next segment are the corporates, which are our bread and butter and which will fuel the occupancy in this hotel.”

But to get corporates guests travelling again, Mr Hunt said, they needed certainty about interstate travel.

Speaking at the launch event on Thursday, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said she was absolutely delighted to be opening a W Hotel “after such a tumultuous year”.

But she stood by the hosting of the Australian Open, despite the latest fiasco. “Melbourne is a major events capital. It was, it is and it alway will be. To to support those events we need fantastic accommodation.”

Marriott, the world’s biggest hotel company, has a lot riding on Australia’s domestic tourism revival. This year it will open seven new hotels including a Ritz-Carlton in Melbourne while next year the W Sydney is due to open within the Ribbon project at Darling Harbour.

The first of the seven new Marriotts to open, the designer W Melbourne is fully booked this weekend, though on a reduced capacity of 120 rooms. Its numerous food and beverage venues, including its cocoon-shaped ‘Curious’ cocktail bar are also booked out – unless of course new restrictions come into play.

The W Melbourne sits within the striking $1.25 billion Collins Arch mixed-use skryscraper developed by Cbus Property.

The hotel, which was due to open in August last year, and then December, is owned by Japanese billionaire Katsumi Tada’s Daisho, which paid $220 million to buy it off the plan in 2017.

“Like all cool, beautiful babies this hotel had a very long gestation period,” Mr Hunt said.

A night stay at the W Melbourne starts at about $360 a night rising to over around $1500 for its 175-square-metre Extreme Wow Suite on the 15th floor.

The hotel, which pays homage to Melbourne through its design which includes vignettes of Melbourne’s streetscapes and laneway, includes a 426 square metre pillarless ballroom.

In keeping with its ‘Detox. Retox. Repeat’ brand, the W Melbourne also offers an ultra-modern fitness facility, gold-roofed indoor pool, poolside bar and DJ booth.