Tasmanian-owned Vibe Hotel Hobart tracking for late November opening
Hobart’s new 4.5 star hotel was due to open before the pandemic, but the delay has given owners extra time to fully kit out an art deco restaurant, a stunning pool modelled on the Disappearing Tarn and more. SNEAK PEEK INSIDE + OPENING SPECIAL RATES >>
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Vibe Hotel Hobart heading for a November opening after pandemic-related delays
- Tourism and hospitality industry keen to welcome back interstate visitors as Crowne Plaze Hobart officially opens
IT’S FULL steam ahead towards the finish line for one of Hobart’s newest hotels, which aims to be open shortly before the tentative border reopening on December 1.
The Vibe Hotel Hobart in Argyle St, developed by Tasmanian company Raadas Property, will include 135 regular hotel rooms and seven apartments.
The 4.5 star hotel was originally due to open mid-year before the coronavirus pandemic hit, but the owner-developers confirmed the opening had been reset for late November.
TFE Hotels’ first Vibe branded hotel in Tasmania, sections of the 15-storey building are close to being finished, including some of the rooms on the higher levels.
Owner and developer Annalisa Doedens showed the Mercury through the site this week and said the project for her was about giving something back.
“I wasn’t born here, but I’ve lived here all my life and my husband is born and bred so it’s just the two of us and it’s been great to be able to make all the decisions and give something back to the community,” she said.
Earlier on in the project, an archaeological survey found the site was the location of one of Hobart’s earliest homesteads – the circa 1820 house of the man referred to as ‘the father of Tasmania’, Anthony Fenn Kemp.
The investigation also unearthed handmade convict bricks still bearing their thumbprints, which Mrs Doedens said will take pride of place in the foyer, framing one side of a log fireplace.
The modern art deco, ground floor restaurant will be called The Belvedere, in honour of the former Belvedere Ballroom that was on the site from the 1930s to the 1970s and will feature Tasmanian paddock-to-plate, modern Australian dishes.
“I’ve heard the story over and over from people that they met their wife at the Belvedere or their parents met there so for me it’s quite special to be able to call it that,” Mrs Doedens said.
There will also be a takeaway coffee window on the Argyle St frontage and there are four floors of commercial office space still to be leased.
kunanyi/Mt Wellington’s Disappearing Tarn was Mrs Doedens’ source of inspiration for the 25m lap pool with its dark dolerite rock.
She said the team was eagerly awaiting the reopening of the state’s border.
“It’s great to see how well Victoria is doing and other states like South Australia, ACT, there’s no cases there so we’re hopeful he [Premier Peter Gutwein] will stand firm to that date[Dec 1],” Mrs Doedens said.
Hotel general manager Hammond Cardon moved to Tasmania from New Zealand three-and-a-half years ago for a job at another hotel and said he was looking forward to being part of the opening of a new hotel.
“My father was a 10 pound Pom and he settled in New Zealand, but I reckon if he’d come through Tassie I would have been born here, it’s beautiful” he said.
The lead in room rates start from $183 with an opening special of 20 per cent off. See all the details at the hotel’s website.
Join the conversation
How big tech is recalibrating around the DeepSeek threat
Silicon Valley owes its longevity to its ability to pivot and China’s new AI start-up could set it moving in a new direction.
Read more
Why Tassie’s economic outlook is worse than the rest of the nation
Tasmania’s economy is bucking a positive national trend — with a report saying it will shrink this financial year. Here’s why.
Read more