Hilton Garden Inn: Townsville hotel gets renamed, resized, and a construction timeline

Construction is imminent for Townsville’s long-awaited Hiton Hotel, which will be renamed, resized, and revamped. See the latest plans.

Focus Pacific chief executive Michael Graham and Carey Group chief executive Matt Thomson have revealed a new look for the rebranded Hilton Garden Inn project. Picture: Leighton Smith

Several exciting changes have been revealed for Townsville’s long-awaited Hilton hotel project, which will begin construction next to Queensland Country Bank Stadium in a few months.

After years in the development pipeline, increasing cost pressures and changes to operating in a post-Covid world have forced a “pivot”, where plans were revised for the seven-storey, 166-room $40 million DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.

The hotel’s branding will change to “Hilton Garden Inn”, with a redesign resulting in a 20 per cent larger hotel, featuring eight stories and 191-rooms, worth a total of $50 million.

Speaking on behalf of project proponent Focus Pacific, chief executive Michael Graham was excited to confirm that construction would begin in the second quarter of 2023, with guests welcomed a year later.

From their early estimates, through to going to formal tender in August last year, Mr Graham saw construction costs “escalate out of control … upwards of 40 per cent”, raising questions around the project’s viability.

Updated artist impression for the Townsville Hilton Garden Inn. Picture: Supplied.

Gallery: Inside Townsville’s new Hilton Garden Inn project

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Obtaining a global perspective from Hilton management on the challenges, they discovered that a re-scaled hotel, on a larger footprint, would succeed by increasing their revenue stream.

Updated artist impression for the Townsville Hilton Garden Inn. Picture: Supplied.

“Hilton also provided us some very strong data that suggested that we needed to look for a fresher ‘post-Covid hotel brand’, still very much in the upscale space,” Mr Graham said.

“They suggested that we look at Hilton’s alternative upscale brand, which is called Hilton Garden Inn.”

He said rather than the “one-off bespoke-type design” for the Doubletree, Hilton Garden Inn would be more formulaic, reducing the guesswork and uncertainty around the hotel’s design.

The changes would also assist their construction partner, which will be named in late February.

Example of the Hilton Garden Inn's room. Picture: Supplied.

“We had some significant dialogue with council, and we briefed all of council, the planning committee, and the CEO and we had confidence that they were on board with the journey to shift from a Doubletree brief to Hilton Garden Inn brief,” he said.

The new hotel would have parking increased to 96 spaces, ditch the mini bars, and provide guests with an in-house general store (where alcohol could be purchased), a cafe, a 138-seat restaurant, and a conference facility capable of hosting 120 people in a theatre style format.

Example of the Hilton Garden Inn's conference room. Picture: Supplied.

The hotel would primarily entice business travellers and visitors lured to the city by major events like NRL games and the Supercars, while also targeting the burgeoning tourism market.

Example of the Hilton Garden Inn's restaurant design. Picture: Supplied.

After launching an opportunity in August for both local and regional investors to get behind the project, Carey Group chief executive Matt Thomson said it was fully subscribed.

“Those investors come from a variety of different backgrounds, but the common thread among them is that they can see the potential in this project in Townsville.” Mr Thomson said.He said the Carey Group’s fund would not only cover this project but “potentially future projects on behalf of the investor group”.

Acting-mayor Mark Molachino looked forward to having the Hilton Garden Inn reduce the pressure on accommodation availability during major events.

After seeing “a few approvals come through”, the advice he received from the proponent was that “they were hoping to start straight after the wet season”.

Originally published as Hilton Garden Inn: Townsville hotel gets renamed, resized, and a construction timeline