After more than a decade-long absence, luxury hotel firm Ritz-Carlton has confirmed it will return to Australia with the signing of an agreement for the development of a Perth property, to open in 2018.
The 204-room property will be built by Far East Consortium in the riverside Elizabeth Quay development which is located in the commercial and business district next to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
It will be the city's first international luxury hotel.
“We are delighted to bring the legendary Ritz-Carlton facilities and services to Perth, offering our guests a new destination and a new luxury experience in Western Australia,” Marriott International Asia managing director and president Simon Cooper said.
“We have great partners in Far East Consortium and look forward to opening this incredible hotel in 2018.”
The project will also include luxury residential apartments along with 1.5kms of continuous promenades and is expected to attract an estimated four million visitors a year.
The new Perth property will take Ritz Carlton’s Asia Pacific presence to 44 hotels and resorts by 2018 – double its current tally.
Last April, Ritz-Carlton president and chief executive Herve Humler told Travel Today he was “determined” to reintroduce the brand, which previously had properties in the Sydney’s Macquarie Street and in Double Bay.
The “rollercoaster” nature of the Australian market had been behind its exit, he said. But he expressed confidence it had become more stable in recent years, prompting the firm to seek local management opportunities.
Humler was keen to establish hotels in each of the capital city areas, with an additional resort property.
