What the proposed InterContinental Canberra will look like. Image: IHG.
Canberra will host two new international hotel brands when the proposed Crowne Plaza Hotel redevelopment in the city is completed, invigorating the national capital’s travel accommodation and further enhancing its tourism potential.
Crowne Plaza owner Salter Brothers announced plans a year ago for a massive redevelopment of the site up to 14 storeys, including two new hotels totalling 530 rooms, two residential towers offering about 350 apartments, and a new retail and dining precinct.
The company has now announced an upgrade of its hotel brands in a deal with IHG Hotels & Resorts, including that the two new Canberra hotels would be an InterContinental and Indigo.
The Hotel Indigo Canberra will add a boutique lifestyle brand to the Canberra market, while the InterContinental Canberra will feature a rooftop Club InterContinental Lounge and suites with sweeping views to Parliament House, as well as offering extensive conference and event spaces together with a signature restaurant and luxury day spa facility.
Hotel Indigo is IHG’s fastest-growing lifestyle hotel brand with no two hotels the same and sites inspired by the local surroundings to provide an immersive travel experience.
It will combine the design and style of a guesthouse or boutique hotel with the conveniences offered by major hospitality brands.
But no dates have yet been announced for the Crowne Plaza’s demolition or development application to be submitted.
In 2021, the Salter Brothers investment and hotel group proposed a 14-storey Holiday Inn on the Crowne Plaza car park, but nearby apartment dwellers called it inappropriate because of its height, impacts on Glebe Park, and traffic and parking concerns.
That proposal never made it to the development application stage and residents have raised similar concerns about the new proposal.
The project web page says the new “lifestyle precinct”, One Binara, will rejuvenate the area with a high-quality public realm, new ground-floor shops and restaurants and links from the city to Glebe Park.
The residential towers will contain a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
They will rest upon a podium with active frontages to Binara Street, City Walk, and a new shared accessway between it and the hotels. This accessway will connect Binara Street to Coranderrk Street and “unlock” the city block.
Cox Architecture is masterplanning the precinct.
A site plan for the proposed Crowne Plaza Hotel redevelopment. Image: Cox Architecture.
Under the long-term agreement several high-profile IHG hotels will be rebranded and repositioned within the company’s portfolio of luxury brands, with Regent Hotels & Resorts set to return to Australia after 28 years when Regent Melbourne completes its transformation from InterContinental Melbourne in 2030.
IHG’s strategic Luxury & Lifestyle expansion also sees three of its highly popular and successful properties joining its InterContinental brand – Crowne Plaza Canberra, Crowne Plaza Sydney Coogee Beach and Crowne Plaza Melbourne.
IHG Hotels and Resorts Managing Director, Australasia Pacific, Matt Tripolone said the long-term agreement further strengthened their existing, highly successful relationship.
“With three InterContinental properties also on the horizon, and a new hotel, Hotel Indigo Canberra, in our sights, we’re delighted to have cemented our leading Luxury & Lifestyle position in the country,” he said.
“Overall, this agreement underscores the strength and evolving nature of Australia’s hotel market and highlights the growing trend for conversions in our industry as guests increasingly seek immersive Luxury & Lifestyle experiences across the country.”
Salter Brothers Managing Director Paul Salter said the $1 billion deal highlighted the company’s conviction in providing distinctive lifestyle experiences for travellers globally, with an emphasis on timeless style, culinary mastery and wellness facilities for guests.
“We look forward to working with IHG throughout the journey of these exceptional hotels, and welcoming domestic and international guests to experience these incredible properties under their new brands in the coming years,” he said.
Salter Brothers has a portfolio of 37 quality hotels and retreats in Australia and the US, making it one of the largest owners in Australasia.
In 2015, it acquired the IHG hotel portfolio, including Canberra’s Crowne Plaza, for more than $48 million.
IHG Hotels & Resorts has 76 hotels in Australasia operating under nine brands – Six Senses, InterContinental, Kimpton, Vignette Collection, Hotel Indigo, voco, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, with another 26 properties in its development pipeline.
