Ardo, Townsville’s first five star hotel will begin taking bookings in September

Offering Townsville five star luxury for the first time, construction on the long awaited $88m Ardo Hotel is making good progress. Find out when you can book a room.

Townsville’s days of being a city without a five star hotel are almost over, with bookings for the $88m Ardo Hotel opening in September, ahead of first guests arriving before the end of the year.

The Ville Resort-Casino CEO Michael Jones was excited to take an entourage of hi-vis donned stakeholders, including Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Patricia O’Callaghan, on a tour through the construction site for the seven-storey, 132-room hotel, on Thursday.

Situated in the Breakwater Island precinct next to the Morris Group’s other Townsville resort, The Ville, the development will introduce high-end accommodation, world-class dining, a day spa and a rooftop pool deck.

Featuring views from its infinity pool across the Coral Sea out to Magnetic Island, Mr Jones expected the rooftop infinity pool to become Townsville’s “must have” Instagram photo.

He praised the rapid progress being made by Prime Constructions, where a total of 900 workers had been onsite during the construction phase.

“Not only (will it be) a great place for locals to come and have special occasions and celebrate time with their friends, but it’ll bring a luxury market to the city that we haven’t had before,” Mr Jones said.

Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Patricia OÕCallaghan at the the Ardo which is nearing completion. Picture: Evan Morgan

“Construction is now at the stage where they are fitting out rooms ... and we’ve got a couple of the rooms that are nearly finished. We’re just really excited to see the end product.”

To sample five-star luxury, locals currently need to travel to Cairns or the Whitsundays.

Unable to say yet how much the rooms cost, Mr Jones said the five-star rating would be reflected by the quality of the finish and exceptional service levels.

An image of the Ardo Rooftop bar area.

An image of the Terasu restaurant.

“We think it’d be really successful in attracting people from within the region to come to Townsville and ... we’ve already had good interest from people down south who are inquiring about coming to stay,” he said.

He said the Morris Group were progressing conversations with the council and Port of Townsville about building a superyacht marina, while also working to deliver their luxurious $20,000 per night Pelorus Private Island project by October.

Ms O’Callaghan said Ardo would satisfy a “huge appetite” from travelers for premium luxury-style accommodation.

“We can see it in the Ville with their occupancy rates over 80 per cent, and Ardo will be targeting that premium and luxury market which we know ... (is) out there,” she said.

While many senior roles were now filled, the Morris Group was looking to recruit up to 200 workers, including hotel, food and beverage, cleaning, gardening and handyman roles.

Originally published as Ardo, Townsville’s first five star hotel will begin taking bookings in September