Wednesday, 14 November 2007：Australian hotel group, Doherty Hotels, has appointed Accor to manage their two hotels – the historic Hadleys Hotel Hobart and the Doherty Ballarat Hotel & Convention Centre in Victoria.
Enjoying a long and distinguished history, Hadleys Hotel is Tasmania’s oldest continuously operating hotel, having opened in 1834. The hotel will be rebranded as Grand Mercure Hadleys Hotel Hobart.
In 2008, Hadleys will commence a major expansion of the hotel, with construction of a new wing that will add to the hotel’s existing 71 room, as well as including two new restaurants, a bar, Grand Ballroom and health spa. The $30 million project is scheduled to start in Feb 2008 and be completed by October 2009, reinforcing Hadleys Hotel’s reputation as the city’s premier hotel.
The extension of the hotel will allow the Grand Mercure to accommodate more conference and function business. The hotel currently offers six function rooms capable of seating 250, but with the addition of the Grand Ballroom meeting capacity will increase to 600 delegates.
Also joining the Accor network today is the Doherty Ballarat Hotel & Convention Centre, located in the Victorian goldfields region opposite Sovereign Hill, 75 minutes drive from Melbourne.
A rustic style hotel set amid 4 hectares of landscaped gardens with tree lined pathways and a ‘Hidden Garden’, the hotel undergo a soft refurbishment with plans to rebrand the property to Grand Mercure Ballarat Hotel & Convention Centre when the upgrading programme is completed in 2008.
The property is one of Victoria’s largest convention and function hotels with 20 versatile meeting rooms ranging in size from boardrooms to a tiered auditorium, catering for up to 300 delegates. Complementing the onsite meetings facilities, the hotel is located adjacent to the recently opened Ballarat Convention and Exhibition Centre with seating capacity (theatre style) for 1000 or 700 banquet delegates.
The addition of Grand Mercure Hadleys Hotel will increase Accor’s Tasmanian network to three hotels, joining Mercure hotels in Hobart & Launceston.
The Ballarat hotel is Accor’s first in the city, adding to a network of over 30 hotels across Victoria.
Accor Vice President Australia, Simon McGrath, said that the two hotels would be significant additions to the Accor group: “Hadleys is one of Tasmania’s and Australia’s best known heritage hotels and with the new branding, as well as the significant new extension to the hotel, we believe that we can greatly increase the hotel’s position and reputation in the market place,” he said.
“Accor has well over a decade of experience operating in Tasmania and Victoria, and brings to both hotels the group’s extensive sales, marketing and distribution network, as well as a strong network of conferencing partners.”
