Rydges moves into Mackay’s Grand Suites hotel

A Sydney-based hotel investment company has bought north Queensland’s Mackay Grand Suites hotel, in a move that will see the property significantly revamped and rebranded.

The new owner, Sheep 10, has already signed a management agreement with Event Hospitality and Entertainment, which will operate the business at a Rydges Hotel.

The hotel was sold on behalf of administrators Ernst & Young, under instruction from liquidators Samuel Freeman and Justin Welsh, for a price understood to be around $25 million.

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The six-storey, 4.5-star, 91-room hotel was built in 2007 by high-profile Mackay developer John Cowley, who originally put the property on the market in January, 2017,  before administrators were appointed to wind up the business just two months later.

The rebranded Rydges Hotel in Mackay has 91 rooms.

Positioned on a 2148sqm site in the Mackay CBD, the hotel has luxury accommodation, a swimming pool, conference facilities and a gymnasium, as well as a restaurant and a bar and bistro with 45 gaming machines.

Sheep 10 managing director Geordie Clark says the hotel will now be overhauled to improve its offering.

“We saw a tremendous opportunity with this property, to rebrand it with an international hotel operator, and we will be completely reconfiguring the ground floor bars and restaurant to ensure it becomes Mackay’s preeminent entertainment venue,” Clark says.

The hotel also has conferencing facilities.

The bistro, known as AM Bar, will undergo a major renovation, while the restaurant – Cactus Jack’s – will be redesigned and rebranded as an AM Restaurant.

CBRE Hotels’ agents Wayne Bunz, who handled the sale with colleague Paul Fraser, says Mackay is back in investors’ sights after riding out a downturn in the mining industry.

A swimming pool is a part of the 4.5-star hotel’s other facilities.

“There has been a renewed focus on the resource sector and this sale is evidence of the return in confidence,” Bunz says.

“Given the property’s multiple income streams, the asset attracted interest from a broad range of investors including publicans, hotel owner-operators and major brands.”