Midnight Hotel is now open for business, and has welcomed its first guests to the newly completed Braddon hotel.
Home to 199 premium rooms, a restaurant, Braddon Merchant, and a bar, Midnight Bar, Midnight Hotel is part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection and is Marriott International’s first hotel to open in the national capital. Marriott International and Iconic Hotels, the hotel development arm of developer Geocon, entered into an agreement for the operation of the hotel in August.
“Celebrating the world’s most distinctive independent hotels around the globe, each hotel in the Autograph Collection is a product of vision, handpicked for its mark of craft, heartfelt design and authentic sense of place. These principles guide the curation of the portfolio, ensuring each hotel experience is remarkably unlike anything else,” said Area Vice President, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, Marriott International, Sean Hunt.
Guests at the hotel have access to a heated indoor pool with cabana seating, sauna, and shared and private gym areas, as well as conference and event spaces.
“Midnight Hotel is unique in design, thoughtful in spirit and affords a prime inner-city location with exemplary guest service,” said Iconic Hotels’ General Manager, Rien Donkin.
“We are proud to be recognised as part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection and excited to share our city’s story with our global guests.”
Commercial construction to soften
Master Builders Australia (MBA) has released forecasts suggesting commercial building will soften over the next few years.
MBA chief economist Shane Garrett said commercial building has grown steadily over recent years to reach its highest level on record, due to demand for commercial projects such as schools, hospitals, shops and restaurants.
“We expect that the volume of commercial building across Australia totalled $45.75 billion during 2018/19, an increase of 8.0% on the previous year,” he said.
“The favourable economic backdrop is forecast to propel commercial building forward by another 6.5% during 2019/20. However, market activity is then expected to revert to lower levels. By the end of our forecast horizon in 2023/24, the size of Australia’s commercial building market is projected to be 8.9% smaller than in 2018/19.”
Mr Garrett said several segments of commercial building are set for healthy growth over the period to 2023/24, including retail/wholesale, transport buildings and health facilities.
“If the rollout of newly committed government infrastructure work were to be speeded up, this would enhance the viability of more projects in the commercial building space and get recovery underway more quickly.”
Master Builders ACT CEO Michael Hopkins echoed this sentiment from a local perspective, and said the forecasts indicate commercial building in the ACT is entering a downturn over the coming years.
“The MBA is concerned that the 2019-20 ACT Budget forecasted a gradual decline in capital works funding from close to $1 billion in 2016-17 to $581 million in 2022-23.”
“Currently, the realisation of visible activity on the ground once Government infrastructure announcements are made is still taking far too long.”
Doma Hotels recognised
Doma Group’s Little National Hotel has been awarded Best Midscale Hotel at the HM Awards for Hotel and Accommodation Excellence for the fourth time.
“In just five years of operation, Little National has been honoured by HM in the Midscale Hotel category a staggering four times,” said Doma Director of Hotels, Patrick Lonergan.
Doma Hotels Brassey Hotel was a joint winner of the Economy Hotel category, while Hotel Realm’s Buvette Bistro and food and beverage associate Robert Mawson were highly commended.
Doma plan to open hotels with the Little National blueprint in both Sydney and Newcastle.
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