Surfers Paradise’s Vibe Hotel to become AC Hotel with Marriott taking over its management
A prominent Surfers Paradise hotel will soon close as one of the world’s top accommodation brands takes it over with a big-budget transformation planned. FIND OUT MORE
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Surfers Paradise’s Vibe Hotel will close in early 2026 for a big-budget facelift courtesy of the Marriott.
The building, which was sold earlier this year to Thailand-based accommodation company KS Hotels, has signed a management rights deal with the international chain to transform the complex into Australia’s second AC Hotel – a Marriott brand.
It will become the company’s third Gold Coast outlet, alongside the JW Marriott in Surfers Paradise and the Sheraton Grand Mirage on The Spit.
Tristan Cooper, Marriott’s Australia director of development, said the company “loved the Gold Coast” and saw great potential in the market.
“The property will undergo a refurbishment at the conclusion of the 2025-26 summer as it will be rebranded,” he said.
“The hotel will represent a price difference with the JW Marriott and the Sheraton which are both premium brands and this will sit at the 4.5 star level.”
No price tag for the revamp has been disclosed.
Mr Cooper said the Gold Coast was a growth market ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games.
“The Gold Coast is a region we know and love and it is synonymous with Australia on the global stage, it is what people think of when they imagine Australia leisure,” he said.
“There is substantial investment happening in southeast Queensland more generally in the lead-up to 2032.
“We love the Gold Coast and love the macroeconomics behind the city and where it is going in the short, medium and long-term.”
The AC Hotel will be one of a number of significant investments by the Marriott group into the Gold Coast. The global giant will also deliver a new hotel at Marina Mirage and the proposed Ritz Carlton (another Marriott brand), both on The Spit. It will also operate the proposed St Regis Hotel in Surfers Paradise.
KS Hotels secured the Vibe Hotel property for $60m, understood to be significantly above the original asking price, from 101-year-old Malaysian business tycoon Robert Kuok, who had previously bought the site through his Shangri-La Hotels group nearly a decade ago.
The deal, brokered by international firm JLL’s hotels executive vice president Adam Bury, Tim Jones and Tom Gleeson, included the hotel, the neighbouring Surfers Paradise Pavilion and its 35 poker machines and marina.
Shangri-La Hotels bought the site in December 2015 for $46m from Tobar Hotel Investment No 2, a vehicle for Barana Group and Toga Hospitality, linked respectively to Greg and Kath Shand and Ervin, Gary and Allan Vidor.
The 22-storey hotel tower, which fronts the Gold Coast Hwy and the Nerang River, has 199 rooms and was originally built as the Chevron Hotel, before transitioning into the Concorde Hotel in 1996.
Surfers Paradise Pavilion, initially built in the late 2000s as the Gold Coast Titans clubhouse Titanium, is currently leased to Artesian Hospitality.
It is understood Artesian has a long-term lease on the property.
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