Visitors to Queensland for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games faced increased room rates as hotel operators cashed in on the visitor boom. The Gold Coast’s hotel performance was largely driven by high rate premiums during the event, which ran from April 4 to April 15. According to a report from research group STR, the average daily rate came in at $347.38 – a 76 per cent increase over the same 12-day period in 2017. The market’s growth in revenue per available room exceeded 100 per cent most nights during the event, with the peak level occurring the night of the opening ceremony on April 4 – jumping 205.4 per cent to $294.26. The spike in average daily rate and revenue per available room occurred despite the fact that Gold Coast hotels did not register at-capacity occupancy levels. The market experienced its highest occupancy level (92.8 per cent) on the...

The site of the former Gold Coast Hospital in Southport will be transformed into a $550 million masterplanned residential hub, with council giving their tick of approval for the first stage of “Queen Street Village”. Stage one includes the Palladium – a 19-storey building which features 17 levels of residential apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms and a retail piazza on the ground level. Stale hospital rooms will be replaced with apartment views of Surfers Paradise as Brisbane-based developer, Property Solutions has proposed a seven-tower development on the 3.2-hectare site. The proposed seven towers will range in height from 16 to 25 storeys and the site will include a residential care, a retirement facility, theatre, health care services, food and drink outlets along with a showroom and offices. Property Solutions sales and marketing director Craig Wright says the initial research identified the large site as the ideal place for...

Star Entertainment Group will officially open their new hotel at the Star Gold Coast later this month ahead of the Commonwealth Games. The new 17-storey hotel, “The Darling”, features 57 rooms ranging in size from 70sq m to 328sq m. The group is currently undertaking a $345 million refurbishment of The Star Gold Coast in Broadbeach. The launch comes as the ASX-listed Star Entertainment recorded a first-half statutory net profit loss of 76.8 per cent to $32.9 million weighed down by $32 million of significant items and debt restructuring costs. The group announced that it recorded normalised net profit of $120 million, up 12.4 per cent from the corresponding period, with chief executive Matt Bekier saying the performance of the Star’s Queensland properties had been “pleasing” in the first months of 2018. The Star Entertainment Group managing director Geoff Hogg said the Star team was preparing to finally unveil the...