Qatar Airways buys Melbourne’s Sheraton
Middle Eastern airline Qatar Airways has expanded its international hotel portfolio, buying the landmark Sheraton Melbourne for about $135 million.
The airline had been chasing a berth in the Australian hotel sector for some years as it looked to become a hotel owner in key destinations, including the Victorian capital.
The deal was revealed by The Australian last August, one of few hotel transactions last year, with activity down 35% on 2016, according to a Savills Hotels market report released yesterday.
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Melbourne-based developer Golden Age put the Sheraton Hotel Melbourne on the block in January last year as it sought to reorganise its holdings after buying a neighbouring site in the city.
In a statement yesterday, Qatar Airways confirmed it had bought the 174-room hotel, which is considered a prize of the city’s hotel market given its location at the “Paris end” of Little Collins St, near the city’s celebrated laneways that house leading shops, restaurants and the city’s main theatres. Qatar Airways bought the hotel through its Dhiafatina Hotels hospitality division, which was established in 2010.
Melbourne is an incredibly important destination on the Qatar Airways network
Dhiafatina Hotels has a growing portfolio of hotel properties that were hand-picked to complement Qatar Airways’ global strategy of growth for the future.
Qatar Airways began its journey as an international hotel owner with the purchase of the Sheraton Skyline Hotel at London’s Heathrow Airport in 2014. It also owns the Novotel Edinburgh Park in Scotland and the Oryx Rotana Hotel in Doha, which was bought in 2010.
“Melbourne is an incredibly important destination on the Qatar Airways network, so much so that last year we began flying our state-of-the-art Airbus A380 aircraft to Melbourne,” says Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker.
Sheraton has a long-term management agreement over the Melbourne hotel.
JLL Hotels agent Mark Durran handled the sale.
Meanwhile, Savills expects sales volumes this year to be on par or slightly ahead of 2017.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
