New hotel brand seeks sites to take on Airbnb
Young businessmen Rhys Williams and Alex Thorpe are scouring Sydney and Melbourne for inner-city sites to grow their fledgling Veriu contemporary hotel brand, which they are pitching directly at ‘‘creative corporate guests’’ and long-stay travellers who normally end up with online hospitality service, Airbnb.
The pair have joined wealthy entrepreneur Fred Bart on a new hotel development in inner city Ultimo. Further down the track they have struck a deal with listed fund manager Folkestone for a larger hotel in Sydney’s Green Square.
Williams and Mr Thorpe recently opened a 64-room hotel, The Veriu, in Sydney’s Broadway, offering long-stay self-contained accommodation from $180 a night. Guest extras include the use of free bikes, Wi-Fi and a free welcome drink.
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The hotel redevelopment in Mountain Street, Ultimo cost $18 million, with the bricks and mortar owned by Bart. Williams and Thorpe have taken a leasehold over the property instead of engaging in a normal hotel management agreement where they would pay a percentage of income to the building owner.
Under the Veriu Hotels model, CBD and city fringe sites are sourced, with the hotels typically sized from 20 to 120 rooms.
“We will go into areas that we think are exciting but they have got to have infrastructure,” Williams says.
“We are always looking for more sites and we are in negotiations in Melbourne and we have some other stuff in Sydney,’’ he says. “We will have seven Veriu Hotels in Sydney by the end of the year.”
The pair are looking at a property at 323 George St, Sydney, as a potential hotel and have signed a deal in Redfern to open another Veriu.
Veriu also recently expanded its portfolio with the rebranding of two Sydney properties in Camperdown and Randwick following extensive refurbishments.
Additional Veriu locations are also flagged for Sydney’s Central Station, Surry Hills and Elizabeth Bay over the next year.
One of the larger Veriu projects will be the 142-room Green Square, which is expected to open next year, with the development owned by listed fund manager Folkestone.
Williams and Thorpe are also open to placing their own equity in a joint venture.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
