Novotel selected for Brisbane Airport’s first international hotel

Australia’s leading 4-star hotel brand, Novotel, has been selected for Brisbane Airport’s first major international hotel. Novotel Brisbane Airport is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion by October 2009.

It will be the second Novotel in Brisbane – the first opened in 1995 in Creek Street in the heart of the central business district – and it will join an extensive network of Novotel hotels at key airports around the world. In recent years Novotel has been selected for hotels at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport, Hyderabad’s new international airport and Hong Kong’s airport. There are over 40 Novotels at major airports around the globe.

The 156 room Novotel is being developed by Kenlynn Properties Australia and is being built on an 8000sqm block of land at 1 Airport Drive. The Novotel will be part of a relatively new retail, commercial and recreational precinct that will also comprise a DFO super-store, childcare centre, Woolworths supermarket and a golf course.

In addition to its convenient address, the new Novotel hotel will also feature a roof top terrace, gymnasium, lap pool and sauna, a lobby bar, a la carte restaurant, underground parking and six meeting rooms to service the needs of corporate clients in transit.

Architect Noel Robinson says the design of the hotel includes a six-storey atrium and a dramatic, glass-ended, cantilevered rooftop pool and recreation space.

Novotel is part of Australia’s largest hotel group, Accor, which is also the largest operator of hotels in airport precincts in Australia. The company has four hotels servicing the Sydney airport precinct, including a Novotel, as well as hotels at Melbourne and Perth airports. Accor also operates a Formule 1 hotel close to Brisbane Airport.

Welcoming Novotel’s appointment, Accor Vice President Australia, Simon McGrath said that Novotel’s popularity in airport precincts was because of its enormous versatility for the various markets that require airport accommodation.

“Novotel can offer everything from 5-star style suites to mid-market accommodation, along with business and meeting facilities, quality restaurants and top-class recreation facilities,” Mr McGrath said.

“Brisbane Airport is much more than just an airport, it is one of Brisbane’s fastest growing commercial areas and the gateway to the Gold Coast and south-east Queensland. Brisbane Airport currently handles some 18.5 million passengers annually – a growth of 50% since 2003 – and is forecast to grow to 33.3 million by 2029, making new infrastructure such as the Novotel crucial.

“The launch of the Novotel is an important part of the Brisbane Airport Corporation’s Master Plan for the precinct, which predicts up to 50,000 workers in the Brisbane Airport area by 2029. With the airport boasting a curfew-free status, it is likely that the Airport will attract even greater numbers of international and domestic carriers in recent years, making Brisbane a hub not only for passenger movements but also freight, and with Novotel’s versatility, it can service all these various markets at highly affordable rates.”

Novotel Brisbane Airport will be the 23rd Novotel in Australia and the 5th in Queensland.

Accor, world group and European leader in the hotel industry, world leader in services to businesses and public authorities, is present in almost 100 countries and has 170,000 employees. Its customers benefit from the know-how it has gained for over 40 years in its two main sectors:

• the hotel industry, with the Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing over 4,000 hotels and almost 500,000 bedrooms in 90 countries, as well as its complementary activities, especially Lenôtre;
• the service industry: 23 million people in nearly 40 countries benefit from Accor Services (human resources, marketing services, expense account management).

Rebecca Freestun
+61-2-9280 9794
Accor Asia