Sofitel Melbourne on Collins celebrates 30 years
To mark the occassion, the hotel celebrated some of its longest serving employees, with a combined 871 years of service.
Sofitel Melbourne On Collins is celebrating its 30th anniversary by honouring 30 of its longest-serving team members. Known within Sofitel as Heartists, they represent more than 871 years of combined service at the heart of Melbourne’s hospitality, arts and cultural life.
The hotel has welcomed a roll call of famous faces including Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jane Fonda, Lady Gaga, Anna Wintour, Dame Joan Collins, Queen Mary of Denmark, Kylie Minogue, Luciano Pavarotti, Julie Andrews and Baz Luhrmann. But it is the people behind the scenes who are taking centre stage for its 30th birthday celebration.
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30 years, 30 heartists and 871 years of service
Among the long-serving Heartists are Debbie Tay, Senior Accounts Officer, and Terence Murphy, Guest Relations Manager, whose combined service at the hotel spans 71 years. They are part of a group of Heartists who have watched Melbourne change from the hotel’s windows and welcomed guests back year after year to mark important moments.
“What stays with me most after all these years is the people,” said Murphy. “You welcome someone for the first time and then they come back for an anniversary, a birthday or another special occasion, and before you know it you’ve known them for 20 or even 30 years. You see their children grow up and return with families of their own. That is what makes working here so special.”
General Manager Stephan Leroy said the anniversary was as much a celebration of the people who have shaped the hotel as the hotel itself. “When you look back over 30 years, you realise how many people’s lives have crossed paths with this hotel,” said Leroy. “Some of our Heartists have spent decades here and some of our guests have been returning for almost as long. That sense of history and connection is something very special, and this anniversary gives us the opportunity to celebrate the people who created it.”
French at heart, Melbourne by nature
Sofitel Melbourne On Collins became part of the Sofitel family in 1996, bringing the brand’s French heritage to one of Melbourne’s most recognisable addresses. Located at the Paris end of Collins Street, the hotel is surrounded by the theatres, restaurants, architecture, fashion and culture that have long defined this part of the city.
There is a fitting French connection to the hotel’s Collins Street home. Collins Place was designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, whose work also includes the Louvre Pyramid, one of Paris’s most recognisable landmarks.
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Melbourne’s hotel for the arts
Sofitel’s relationship with Melbourne’s creative community has become one of the defining threads of the hotel’s history. Over three decades, its corridors, public spaces and event rooms have provided a meeting place for artists, performers, designers and audiences, with the hotel supporting and hosting cultural events spanning visual art, opera, theatre, music, literature, fashion and design.
That commitment continues today through partnerships and collaborations across Melbourne’s cultural landscape, including Victorian Opera and its Behind the Curtain exhibition, SIX The Musical, for which Sofitel is the official premium hotel partner during its Melbourne season, and the hotel’s ongoing support of First Nations arts and culture through the Birrarangga Film Festival.
Inside the hotel, the tradition continues in Sofi’s Lounge, where Melbourne artist Emma Stenhouse’s Tumbinyeri – A Connection to Life is currently on exhibition, bringing contemporary Australian art into a space that has connected hotel guests with Melbourne’s creative community for decades.
The next 30 years
While the anniversary provides an opportunity to look back at the people, guests and moments that have shaped Sofitel Melbourne On Collins, the hotel is also looking firmly towards its next chapter.
Its relationship with Melbourne’s arts community, its French heritage and, above all, its people will continue to shape the hotel as a new generation of Heartists, guests, artists and collaborators create their own stories within its walls.
“Thirty years gives you a strong foundation, but we continue to look forward,” said Leroy. “Melbourne keeps evolving, and we want Sofitel Melbourne On Collins to keep evolving with it, through the artists we support, the experiences we create, and the next generation of Heartists who will shape what comes next. People will always remain at the heart of this.”
