Accor Announces Sydney's First New 5-Star Hotel This Century

Sydney's supposed 'White Elephant' - Olympic Park - a roaring success

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. October 14, 2008

SYDNEY, Australia, October 11, 2005. 11 October 2005: Five years after the staging of the most successful Olympic Games, Sydney Olympic Park is to take gold once again with the announcement today of Sydney's first new 5-star hotel this century, the Sofitel Sydney Olympic Park.

Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) and Accor finalised an agreement for the construction of the Sofitel opposite Accor's existing Novotel and Ibis hotel complex. The Sofitel is scheduled to open in mid-2008. The total development cost will be in excess of AUD$50 million. The 18 storey, 210 room hotel will include 14 suites, 340 square metres of conference space plus pre-function areas, a boardroom, executive lounge, restaurant and bar, and an underground car parking with 130 spaces.

Like the Novotel and Ibis, the new Sofitel will be built in accordance with SOPA's stringent environmental guidelines and an agreed set of environmental principles which have been established between SOPA and Accor. Accor's three Olympic Park hotels will be linked by an underground basement to allow many back-of-house functions for the complex to be shared.

The existing hotels, which were opened in 2000, and the new Sofitel, will service the rapidly growing business and meetings community in the Olympic Park precinct and the greater western Sydney area. Sydney Olympic Park is currently home to over 60 businesses including Orlando Wyndham, Dairy Farmers, QBE, BP Solar and Eveready. These will be joined by a number of other major businesses over the next two years, including the Commonwealth Bank, which will relocate 1400 staff to Sydney Olympic Park in early 2007.

Elsewhere in the surrounding region, companies such as ANZ, National Australia Bank, Macquarie Bank and AAP have moved to this burgeoning commercial district. Sydney Olympic Park is also a major venue for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment and sporting events.

Welcoming SOPA's announcement of the Sofitel, Accor Asia Pacific Chairman, Mr David Baffsky, said the new hotel highlighted the success of Sydney Olympic Park and the vision behind the development of the precinct. "Sydney Olympic Park has been an outstanding success, despite many sceptics at the time believing that it would become a 'White Elephant' after the Olympics," said Mr Baffsky. "Sydney Olympic Park - like Sydney's Darling Harbour - has proved to be one of the world's most successful urban redevelopment projects. "The growth of western Sydney's business community in the past five years has been phenomenal and the pace of development is set to increase as many large companies move their headquarters from the city to the west. The region has had no new hotel for over five years and demand for top-end accommodation is particularly strong. The Sofitel will be a major new addition to Sydney West's tourism and business infrastructure."

Sofitel is Accor's premium brand and the fastest growing luxury hotel brand in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Sofitel Sydney Olympic Park will join the renowned Sofitel Wentworth Sydney and five other Sofitel hotels in Australia. It is part of a global network of some 200 Sofitel hotels and resorts.