Fullerton Hotels to Expand with Take-over of Westin Sydney

Main Photo: The Westin Sydney to be renamed The Fullerton Hotel Sydney

Date: October 2018

Location: Sydney’s GPO Building, New South Wales, Australia

Name: The Westin Sydney to be renamed The Fullerton Hotel Sydney – September 2019

No. of Keys: 416

Seller: With the merger of the colonial postal services, the GPO building was transferred to the federal Post-Master General’s department in 1901 after Federation.

It remained in the ownership of the federal postal authority (now Australia Post), although following the 1996 conversion the building was leased for 99 years to Singapore-based Far East Organisation and its affiliate Sino Land Company, owned by the Ng family, which own the adjoining Westin Hotel.

In 2015 the hotel was been sold to the joint venture for AUD$445.3 million.

Far East Land is part of the sprawling Far East Organisation, which has purchased more than $1 billion of Australian real estate since the beginning of last year.

Far East Hospitality is an international hospitality owner and operator with a diverse portfolio of 9 unique and complementary brands of hotels, serviced residences and apartment hotels, including Oasia, Quincy, Rendezvous, Village, Far East Collection, Adina, Vibe Hotels, Travelodge Hotels and TFE Hotels Collection.

Far East Hospitality owns more than 10 hospitality assets and operates a combined portfolio of more than 14,000 rooms under its management across over 90 hotels and serviced residences in seven countries – Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore, with more in its development pipeline.

Far East Hospitality is a 70-30 joint venture formed in 2013 between Far East Orchard Limited (a listed company under Far East Organization) and The Straits Trading Company Limited. In the same year, Far East Hospitality, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Far East Hospitality Investments (Australia) Pte Ltd, completed a 50-50 joint venture with Australia’s Toga Group to form Toga Far East Hotels (TFE Hotels).

Singapore’s GIC purchased the hotel for AUD $160m in 2002.

Buyer: Singaporean hotel group The Fullerton Hotels and Resorts will next year expand to Australia with its first property coming through a takeover and re-brand of The Westin Sydney at 1 Martin Place.

Effective 18 October 2019, the historic edifice at Sydney’s GPO will open as The Fullerton Hotel Sydney, marking the brand’s first expansion outside of the Lion City.

Prior to the full re-brand in October next year, a carefully planned restoration of the hotel’s exterior will be carried out.

Fullerton Hotels currently operates two properties in Singapore’s Waterfront Bay Precinct in the form of the 2001-opened Fullerton Hotel Singapore and the Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore, which first welcomed guests in 2010.

In a somewhat eerie resemblance, The Fullerton Hotel operates within the city’s General Post Office (GPO) a fact it will replicate upon its opening in Sydney in 2019.

The GPO building in Singapore has been named a National Monument and while Sydney’s GPO is on the NSW State Heritage Register and the Australian Heritage Database, it has not yet been formally added to the higher-profile National Heritage List despite efforts being underway to rectify this.

The Fullerton Hotel Singapore General Manager Cavaliere Giovanni Viterale said he was delighted the luxury brand would soon be calling Sydney its home.

“The Fullerton Hotel Sydney will become a sister hotel to The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, both of which share a similar rich history as former GPOs. We strive to deliver a luxury hotel that can further contribute to Sydney’s growth as an international tourist destination and showcase the beauty and heritage of the original building to a wider audience, both nationally and globally.”

Marriott International Area Vice President, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, Sean Hunt, whose organisation currently manages the Westin Sydney, sent his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to hotel staff for their hard work and dedication over the last 20 years.

THPT Comment: OK Confused here! Fullerton is, according to their website, alongside six hotels in Hong Kong, part of Sino Group – so an internal transfer?

First Seen: Hotel Management Australia

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