‘There will be no theme park that will be able to compete with us’: Movie World plans for a hotel
Village Roadshow has reignited its plans for a hotel at Movie World, lodging a trademark application that reveals its likely branding for the nine-storey, 398-room landmark.
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VILLAGE Roadshow has reignited its plans for a hotel at Movie World, lodging a trademark application that reveals its likely branding for the nine-storey, 398-room landmark.
IP Australia records show Village Roadshow applied for a trademark for “Hotel V” at the end of March. It is pending registration.
Village Roadshow, which was delisted from the ASX last year after a takeover by private equity firm BGH, gained development approval for a hotel in 2017 for its 14ha site at Oxenford.
Planning documents reveal the development will include 32m high, nine-floor “theme park hotel” with 398 suites which is earmarked for land currently occupied by its northernmost carpark fronting Entertainment Drive.
The ground floor will house reception, a lobby, administration office, business centre, bar, function centre, cafe, kitchen, kids club, amenities, gym and hotel back-of-house facilities.
Ramp access and an elevated walkway on level one is planned to provide guests connection to the adjoining restaurant and dining precinct building plus theme park entry.
The project is also set to incorporate “extensive outdoor swimming facilities, outdoor guest recreation areas and feature landscaping plantings”.
A three-storey restaurant and dining precinct building, including a ground-level cafe and upper-level restaurant is also a feature of the plan.
“Guest access to the restaurant and dining precinct is provided via an elevated walkway above the proposed porte-cochere, which will provide a prominent architectural feature” planning documents lodged by Urbis said.
Approval was extended to 2027 in 2019.
Village Roadshow declined to comment on hotel progress, but chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa has been active on social media, hyping big upcoming reveals for the company: “I don’t do this often, but get ready for some HUGE announcements from us. There will be no theme park on the GC or in Australia that will be able to compete with us.”
When someone posted a photo of a Harry Potter studio, Mr Randhawa replied: “That’s small with what will happen over time.”
When another person suggested another theme park was coming to the Gold Coast, he said “over the next few announcements, better than that”.
Mr Randhawa said “no way” when someone suggested a casino could be built at Movie World.
The hotel will be Village Roadshow’s latest in a hefty pipeline of investments on the Gold Coast, which in recent years, have included the $35 million DC Rivals Hypercoaster, Top Golf and its $50 million Atlantis precinct at SeaWorld, which is expected to be completed in mid-late 2021.
The news follows revelations last week that Dreamworld’s owner Ardent Leisure was also shopping for major new attractions as work continued on its $32 million flagship ride, the Steel Taipan.
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