Australia: Quest Apartment Hotels has adjusted its development strategy to focus on developing and operating suburban hotels next to large shopping centres.
The company will open a new 86-unit property at the Queensland Investment Corporation’s (QIC) Watergardens shopping centre and town centre in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs.
It is Quest’s second hotel deal at a QIC-owned mall, following the opening of a Quest Apartment Hotel at the Pacific Epping Shopping Centre in December 2018. QIC jointly owns the mall with the Alter family.
Construction is about to start on Quest Watergardens as part of the expansion of the mall and town centre. Quest will lease the property from QIC and appoint an existing franchisee to run it.
Quest founder and executive chairman Paul Constantinou told The Australian Financial Review the opening of its first mall hotel at Epping Plaza had worked “magnificently”, and that it intended to replicate the strategy in further deals. “Its great for us as our hotels have very little amenity. If you are next to a mall then you can go to the food court for a meal, shop at Chanel, go to the movies or just be among other people. Being a corporate traveller [Quest’s core market] can be a lonely job. We’re currently in talks with a number of shopping centre owners. We respect our partnership with QIC, but will also deal with other landlords be they REITS or unlisted trusts,” he said.
</p
