First glimpse of Queen’s Wharf replica hotel rooms’ test run

The Courier-Mail has been given an exclusive peek into the meticulous work being done to deliver hotel rooms at the $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf.

It’s the first exclusive glimpse inside brand-new hotel rooms at the $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf – kind-of.

While construction continues to have the jewel in Brisbane’s riverfront crown ready for opening next April, work on the property’s Star Grand hotel rooms is being conducted in a nondescript warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

An exact replica of the hotel’s standard room has been constructed inside a shed, with workers road-testing everything from pillows to bath soaps in a bid to have the five-star resort ready for a silky smooth opening.

Caitlin Westra Van Holthe and Star Brisbane’s new general manager of hotels, Rikesh Rajakulasingham, arrive at the test-run hotel rooms in a warehouse north of Brisbane.

The room even has sweeping views of the Brisbane River – or a giant mural of the river anyway – along with a hotel hallway and lift just outside the door to make the room as realistic as possible.

The entire process is being overseen by Star Brisbane’s new general manager of hotels, Rikesh Rajakulasingham.

“Building a five-star hotel from the ground up is a rare, once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity,” he said.

“With the help of our design team, we are doing everything from scratch – ordering soap dishes and clothes hangers to choosing bedding, sheets, bathrobes, towels, hotel cutlery and crockery.

Caitlin Westra Van Holthe and Star Brisbane’s new general manager of hotels, Rikesh Rajakulasingham, at a test-run hotel room in a warehouse north of Brisbane.

“We’re even road-testing pillows to ensure they are neither too firm or too soft and making sure they are allergy-free.

“We’ve commissioned a local supplier for tailor-made microfibre bedding toppers, duvets and mattress protectors.

“We have also designed custom-made room attendant trolleys and will soon begin measuring existing team members for their new uniforms.”

Mr Rajakulasingham will also soon begin recruiting a further 350 frontline hotel team members for roles required across front office, concierge, housekeeping, porters, uniform room, laundry operations, facilities cleaning and carpark operations.

Caitlin Westra Van Holthe and Star Brisbane’s new general manager of hotels, Rikesh Rajakulasingham, at a test-run hotel room.

The hotel was originally scheduled to open in 2022, but the date was revised to this year before later being amended again for a “staged opening” in April.

Star Entertainment Group chief executive and managing director Robbie Cooke said the transformational development was on track for its April opening.

“The Star is adding another 340 much-needed rooms to the Brisbane accommodation inventory and Rikesh has been personally inspecting every one of them as the hotel fit-out continues ahead of next year’s staged opening,” he said.

“We are proud to be creating jobs and look to the future with confidence as the city counts down to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”