Hyatt brings serviced apartment brand to Australia

The hotel will offer a mix of den, studio and one-bedroom self-catering suites, as well as an all-day lounge, gym and communal spaces.

As with other serviced apartment-style offerings, Hyatt House offers more spacious bedrooms and greater living space than a standard hotel room, as well as fully equipped kitchens and other “home-like” amenities to cater to the longer-stay market.

Australia’s serviced apartment market fared better than most traditional hotels during the pandemic because self-catering units could be more easily converted to long-term residential rentals.

Off the back of this resilience and flexibility, the sector is undergoing a major growth phase with Meriton, Quest, Nesuto and Veriu all embarking on expansions of their networks across the country,

Chicago-based Hyatt launched Hyatt House in 2012 when it rebranded 38 Hyatt Summerfield Suites and 15 Hotel Sierra hotels as part of its push into the serviced apartment market, or “extended stay” market as it is known in the US. Hyatt House has since grown to more than 130 properties worldwide.

Asia Pacific Hyatt group president David Udell said Hyatt House brought “all the comforts of home to guests who don’t just want to stay somewhere”.

For Holder East, the deal with Hyatt is a major coup after the developer struggled to sell apartments in Oasis Residences when the 18-storey project launched in late 2018.

The Australian Financial Review reported in December 2018 that Holder East had sold less than 10 per cent of the original 231 apartments off-the-plan in the 1-13 Cobden Street tower following a launch six weeks prior.

The deal with Hyatt cuts out four floors of apartments – levels one to four will host the Hyatt suites – reducing the overall number of apartments to 138, of which 75 per cent have been sold.

Designed by Hayball architects, the project is now under construction and due to be completed in August next year.

“Hyatt House South Melbourne will be a vibrant addition to the South Melbourne precinct,” Holder East chief operating officer CJ Wu said.

Last week, Harry Triguboff’s Meriton opened its first Meriton Suites hotel in Melbourne, one of three new apartment hotels the developer has opened in the past two months.

Another emerging serviced apartment player, Veriu, is opening properties across NSW, Victoria and the ACT (where it is converting an office building into a hotel).