Salter Brothers launches Hospitality Management platform

Continuing to grow branded portfolio of assets while providing unique capabilities to the hospitality sector across Asia Pacific

AccomNews Wednesday, August 23, 2023

0 4 minutes read

Salter Brothers has announced the official launch of its hotel management platform, Salter Brothers Hospitality (SBH) to address the gap in the market for a specialised and dedicated boutique lifestyle luxury manager with regional and CBD capabilities and expertise.

Whilst Salter Brothers had an established team that focused on core hotel management functions (separate from its ever-growing investment management division) following the acquisition of the Spicers Retreats, Milton Park and Escarpment Group acquisitions, it was decided to amalgamate a number of functions into a single platform.

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Salter Brothers announced that from Weds, August 23, a single hospitality management platform, will operate with its own management and be known as Salter Brothers Hospitality (SBH).

This business has material scale and breadth, already encompassing:

17 operating retreat hotels and estates;
More than 20 restaurants and bars;
8 Spa Anise spas and other wellness facilities; and
Spicers Scenic Rim Trail – one of the largest ecotourism ventures ever to open in Queensland with 38 rooms over five amazing campsites.

Combined, these operating assets it will generate more than $110 million annually, and employ more than 500 staff. In addition, SBH directly employs over 40 staff operating from offices in Brisbane (head office), Sydney, Melbourne and Vietnam.

Future Growth

In addition to operating the above assets, SBH will be seeking to grow the number of properties operated under the Ardour Hotels & Estates, Spicers Retreats & Lodges, and Spa Anise brands as well as the number of high-quality, celebrated restaurants and bars.

Salter Brothers recently announced the launch of its latest hotel brand Ardour Hotels & Estates, after many months of research and development. Coming to market in 2024, Ardour is a brand specifically developed for large groups, events, and corporates to experience a retreat-style escape at a range of boutique lifestyle luxury hotels and estates in unique settings.

Facilities will include special event spaces, day spas and outdoor wellness, and multiple restaurants offering a curated food and beverage program for groups – ‘celebrated luxury.’ More information about the brand, including announcements about the first Ardour properties, is expected in the coming months with the first Ardour properties slated to open in Q2 2024.

Salter Brothers recently acquired Australia’s premier retreat and lodges brand Spicers Retreats & Lodges, which already has 14 branded properties, located in unrepeatable settings across NSW and Queensland.

Spicers brand is targeted at boutique luxury lifestyle retreats and lodges that will offer a personalised retreat experience in unique environs, with intimate spaces, day spas, and restaurants – “relaxed luxury”.

Salter Brothers recently acquired the Spa Anise spa and wellness business, which today operates from Spicers Retreats & Lodges across NSW and Queensland. It is intended that the Spa Anise offering will be rolled out across the Ardour and Spicers properties over the coming year, with further growth opportunities to be pursued across Salter Brothers CBD-located hotels.

SBH now operates over 20 restaurants and bars. There are 12 hatted restaurants in the portfolio, including such well-known restaurants as:

Circa 1888, éRemo and Botanica in the Hunter Valley
Darleys and Amara in the Blue Mountains
The Long Apron and The Tamarind in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland

In explaining the launch of the new Salter Brothers Hospitality division, Managing Director Paul Salter said: “Over the years we have had many enquiries for us to manage assets on behalf of owners, but our main focus has always been in the management of our own assets.

“Now with the number of assets we are operating in our hotel and retreat portfolio, it warrants us establishing the hospitality platform as a stand-alone division and we will be announcing a number of senior appointments in the coming weeks.”

It is expected that this platform will see hotels, restaurants and bars, and spa and wellness facilities under management double in the next 24 months.

He concluded: “Whilst we will continue to grow our branded portfolio of assets, we will also seek to provide our unique skills and capability to the broader hospitality sector in Asia Pacific. In Europe and the USA third-party management is the predominant operational model over hotel management agreements (or HMAs), which exist in this part of the world – we expect this model to change over time and there to be a growing demand for this type of service in the Asia Pacific region.”

ABOUT SALTER BROTHERS

Salter Brothers is an Australian-owned global fund manager with a focus on hotels, property, private equity, and credit, with group assets under management over $3 billion. Salter Brothers’ hotel platform was formed in December 2015 and has established a track record of acquiring, developing, and managing high-quality hotel assets across Australia and the USA. Salter Brothers has a portfolio of 5,084 rooms across 36 hotels, making it one of the largest hotel owners in Australia.

ABOUT SALTER BROTHERS HOSPITALITY

Salter Brothers Hospitality (SBH) operates, manages, and licenses the brands of Spicers Retreats and Ardour Hotels & Estates. With 17 hotels and more than 20 restaurants & bars under management and licensing services, including management of the Scenic Rim Trail, Australia’s most luxurious walk. Services offered through this specialist manager include development planning, refurbishment technical services, management, franchising, and revenue generation via its innovative enterprise technology platform.