Royal Hotels-IHG link for former Ritz Carlton
The former Ritz Carlton hotel in Sydney’s Double Bay is to undergo a $20 million upgrade to become the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay.
Singaporean-based Royal Hotels this week signed a management agreement with IHG and the new entity will open in January.
Royal Hotels bought the hotel from Scarborough Pacific Group for around $58 million for the 140-room hotel that was built in 1991. The Ritz Carlton had long history of celebrity stays (Bob Hawke married Blanche D’Alpuget there in 1995) and became infamous as the hotel where INXS-frontman Michael Hutchence hanged himself in 1997. The hotel became the Stamford in 2001 and closed in 2009 for a refurbishment that never happened.
Australian architects Bates Smart have been appointed by Royal Hotels to refurbish the hotel that will include a 300-guest ballroom, all-day restaurant, Club InterContinental, café, lounge and bar, day spa, rooftop pool and bar and underground parking.
