Sorrento’s Continental hotel up for sale at $150m+
The Continental hotel in Sorrento is set to be listed for sale in 2026.
One of the Mornington Peninsula’s most famous hotels and its workers’ lodgings are set to hit the market with $150m+ price expectations early next year.
A consortium including the richlister Smorgan family’s Victor Smorgon Group, fashion distribution business Kanat Group and Trenerry Property Group are planning to list the circa-1875 Continental hotel in Sorrento following a $120m renovation unveiled in 2021 and 2022.
The Ocean Beach Rd site featuring 108 rooms and suites, multiple dining venues, a ballroom, pool deck with a bar, event spaces and the Aurora Spa & Bathhouse will be listed via an expressions of interest campaign, in January.
RELATED: Sebel Melbourne Flinders Lane reveals $5.1m hotel makeover
Victorian ghost town ‘Australia’s Schitt’s Creek’ finally sold
Opening date revealed for new $1.5bn new Footscray Hospital with major retail precinct
The nearby 76-bed Sorrento Lodge which provides affordable accommodation for local workers will also be offered for sale.
Commercial real estate agencies JLL and Cushman & Wakefield will list the hotel managed by IHG Hotels & Resorts under its InterContinental brand.
JLL’s Peter Harper said the campaign would be a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire an iconic asset”.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Daniel Wolman said the hotel and workers’ accommodation sites would be offered for sale as both a $150m-plus package deal, and separately with the lodgings expected to fetch $10m-$11m if sold individually.
They will be listed for sale on Australia Day, January 26, with EOIs to close in March.
“I think it’s arguably the best hotel outside Melbourne’s CBD, it’s arguably the best hotel in Victoria,” Mr Wolman said.
The Mediterranean-inspired pool deck offers views of the Sorrento foreshore.
The hotel’s founder George Coppin in costume from his days as an actor.
He’s expecting mostly investors, including international companies, to inquire about the hotel after the Park Hyatt Melbourne changed hands for $205m in August.
Thailand-based hospitality group KS Hotels became the East Melbourne hotel’s new owner, following a sales campaign managed by JLL.
Mr Wolman said the Sorrento hotel’s owners bought the 5575sq m address about five years ago intending to redevelop and then sell it.
The hotel was established in the 1870s by actor, politician, philanthropist and businessman George Coppin who was also known as the “father of the Australian theatre” for building several Melbourne theatres and music halls, most of which have been demolished or redeveloped.
This includes the former Theatre Royal in Bourke St which is now a Kmart store.
The hotel is set on a 5575sq m land parcel.
According to the Victorian Heritage Register, Coppin was instrumental in founding the Victorian Humane Society, St John’s Ambulance Service and the Australasian Dramatic and Musical Association.
He became the first grand master of the Freemasons in Victoria.
The Continental Hotel is classified as historically significant for its association with Mr Coppin and Sorrento’s development.
The hotel is also believed to be haunted by Mr Coppin’s ghost, among others.
Inside the Continental when it was undergoing a large-scale renovation. Picture: Penny Stephens.
In a Weekend Notes website interview with Sorrento Ghost Tours’ Jenny Tomkin, it was revealed that Mr Coppin’s spectre is known for shutting the kitchen’s pantry door, tapping people on the shoulder when no-one else is in the room and constantly causing a clock in room 28 to fall down.
The hotel and workers’ lodgings will be offered on a sale and leaseback basis through JLL’s agents Peter Harper, Cody Marx, Stuart Taylor and Will Connolly, along with Cushman & Wakefield’s Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay, Nick Rathgeber, Leigh Melbourne and Leon Ma.
Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
MORE: Mum-and-dad property investors turn to Thirsty Camel, Domino’s
Melbourne’s Overnewton Castle sold to Hare Krishnas in $7m deal
