Upmarket hoteliers chase new horizons with resort plans

Sequoia accommodation at Mount Lofty Estate. Picture: Supplied

The two entrepreneurial owner/managers behind a portfolio of hotels and resorts in Queensland and South Australia are looking for more acquisitions on the back of their success in the boutique luxury space.

The business partners, Adelaide-based David Horbelt and Melbourne-based Malcolm Bean, control Reef House in Far North Queensland’s Palm Cove, the up-market Sequoia and Mt Lofty House in the Adelaide Hills, as well as two of corporate hotels in Brisbane and Adelaide.

They are also looking to develop a third high-end boutique development in the Adelaide Hills, with plans approved for an 18-suite resort near the scenic Cleland Conservation Park.

Both Mr Horbelt and Mr Bean have been looking for more boutique acquisitions, saying there are few hands-on operators operating in this area in Australia.

Indeed, their only competitors appear to be the likes of the Colorado-based private equity giant KSL, owner of The Louise and a couple of other former Baillie Lodges properties bought from James and Hayley Baillie a few years back.

“We want to add other similar style properties with a similar DNA,” Mr Bean said.

He said their adults-only Reef House, which offered cocktail making sessions on the beach in Far North Queensland, attracted repeat customers up to three times a year.

“We have managed to turn them into destinations not hotels and that’s how we think about our business. We have developed a lot of IP and capability,” he said. “We have 21 inclusions for Reef House, such as cocktail making on the beach and reef conservation talks – you don’t just get a bed and a bathroom. Our hotels are rated no. 1 on TripAdvisor consistently.

“People choose to come to our brands two and three times a year, which is pretty unusual. We strive to be truly remarkable.”

Mr Bean said the next acquisition would be a similar opportunity. “We are looking for irreplaceable opportunities,” he said.

“You could never replicate Mt Lofty; you would never put those elements together such as being in a wine region, on the side of a mountain, with 175 years of history, unbelievable views, and 25 minutes from a capital city.

The partners said they had been looking at a few opportunities in South Australia, and had passed on a few opportunities in Sydney and Queensland.

“We have walked away because they didn’t fit the high bar of remarkability,” Mr Bean said.

“We have been doing this for 15 years. There were a couple of things in Melbourne that came and city boutique propositions.

“We want something unique in a sea of sameness.”

Last weekend in the Adelaide Hills, Mr Horbelt said the pair had looked at acquiring a property in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, but would look anywhere in Australia for another property.

“Location is 100 per cent the key. You can build around the location,” said Mr Horbelt, adding that the up-market Sequoia was just 25 minutes from Adelaide city, which was of major appeal to guests.