A refurbished room at the JW Marriott Auckland. The hotel is undergoing a $25m upgrade. Photo / Jason Oxenham
A refurbished room at the JW Marriott Auckland. The hotel is undergoing a $25m upgrade. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Hotel giant JW Marriott has unveiled the first of its luxury rooms as part of a $25 million refurbishment of its Auckland hotel.
The hotel’s 286 rooms have already undergone a refresh as phase one of the overhaul of the former Stamford Plaza. It plans to have 40 rooms completelyoverhauled by the end of the year to meet JW Marriott standards and the remainder done by the middle of next year.
This is being done alongside a full renovation of the all day dining restaurant, meeting rooms and lobby area, which has already undergone an initial renovation as the hotel operators and its owners look to capitalise on the recovery of tourism. International tourist numbers are running at around 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels now and are heading to as high as 87 per cent by the end of next April, according to the Tourism Export Council.
Girish Talreja, general manager of JW Marriott Auckland said it would cost about $100,000 to renovate each room, which have an average floor area of about 38sq m.
The hotel was bought last year for $170 million by the Pandey family’s CP Group, investment firm Alvarium Investments, and Archipelago Capital. Marriott International is the biggest hotel company in the world, and operates and manages the Auckland hotel under a multi-decade licensing agreement.
The Marriott group has 8600 hotels around the world with revenues last year of more than $100 billion and Talreja said the JW Marriott brand is on just over 100 of its hotels.
Those have to meet requirements such as being in good locations and being high-quality buildings.
The Auckland property was built in 1984 and operated as the Regent as Auckland’s first five-star hotel.
“This property has good strong bones - they don’t build hotels like this,” he said.
The Albert St hotel had hosted rock stars from Bono to US presidents (Bill Clinton) and the aim was to restore it to its former glory.
Girish Talreja, general manager of JW Marriott Auckland in a prototype superior king room. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“We’re trying to continue the legacy for what this hotel and location had from the Regent days.”
Hotel room rates have been recovering around the country this year and the JW Marriott had averaged about $300 a room for the first half of the year. The completely renovated rooms would yield a premium of between 35 per cent to 40 per cent, said Talreja.
They are accessed by smart keys which memorise the heat settings the guest last wanted and turn off all devices to conserve power.
Each floor would be renovated one at a time while the hotel was operating which Talreja said was a “bit like building a plane while I’m flying it.”
While the rooms were being substantially remodelled, the large marble “four-point” bathrooms (which have a separate shower, toilet, vanity area and bath) were having a more cosmetic makeover.
A refurbished room at the JW Marriott Auckland. The hotel is undergoing a $25m upgrade. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The mini bars would remain although they were now being stocked with beer brewed especially for the hotel by Urbanaut in Kingsland.
Talreja said it was difficult to make a profit out of minibars as they cost a lot to administer.
“They’re usually a loss leader. It’s more a convenience point and the cost of doing business.”
Designed by 037 Design Studio, the first room completed was a mock-up.
Talreja said its business had been boosted by supporters for the US women’s football team staying at the hotel but high air fares were slowing the recovery of the international market. New Zealanders made up the bulk of guests followed by those from the US and Australia.
Marriott International is based in Bethesda, Maryland and its properties under 31 brands are in 138 countries and territories.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
