The Veriu Group this week officially opened the doors of its first Victorian Veriu property, Veriu Queen Victoria Market, in Melbourne’s bustling market precinct.
The opening marks the first stage of the Group’s ambitious strategy to roll out its successful Veriu apartment hotel accommodation nationally, with Veriu Collingwood expected to open early in 2023. It also brings the total number of hotels in the Group’s rapidly expanding portfolio to 20.
After almost 5 years in planning and development, Zed Sanjana, CEO of the Veriu Group, said he is delighted the property is finally open.
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“We’re really excited to be launching the first of our unique apartment hotels onto the Melbourne market, in one of the CBD’s most iconic precincts. Strategically we’ve always sought to grow our portfolio by opening in locations supported by major sources of corporate room night demand. But the property is also expected to appeal to both domestic and international leisure travellers looking for boutique, design-driven flexible accommodation options at the gateway of the CBD.”
Sanjana said, “After a challenging couple of years, Victoria’s tourism industry is now recovering, and total tourism spend is edging back towards 70% of pre-pandemic levels driven largely by domestic tourism.
“Queen Victoria Market is Melbourne’s most popular tourism attraction, and with its $268 million renewal already well underway, the revitalised precinct is forecast to attract over 18 million visitors by 2051. So, the new hotel means we’re ideally positioned to meet the anticipated increased demand for innovative, quality, self-contained accommodation in a growing market, in one of the city’s most popular locations”.
Guests staying at the new state-of-the-art 110 key apartment hotel Veriu Queen Victoria Market will have access to a full suite of top-notch offerings and amenities. As with other properties in the Veriu portfolio, the hotel features cleverly configured and contemporary spaces, including fully self-contained 1-Bedroom Apartments and Studio Apartments (including Accessible Studio Apartments) perfectly ‘suited and booted’ for longer-stay solo travellers, as well as Deluxe Apartment Suites and Quad Apartment Suites designed to sleep four people comfortably – all of them equipped with kitchen facilities, desks and fast, high-quality internet.
Alongside this, 24-hour reception, a cocktail bar, conference and meeting facilities, an outdoor terrace, guest pantry, gym, swimming pool and guest laundry, will cater to both the corporate and leisure market, with the new property expected to deliver the ease and accessibility of the office with all the comforts of home.
Just a short walk from Melbourne’s CBD shopping precinct and Flagstaff Gardens, Veriu Queen Victoria Market is also adjacent to major food and beverage, cultural and arts hubs, and is well supported by public transport with direct access to major road arterials, all adding to its appeal to both corporate and leisure travellers.
Joining Sanjana at the launch were Vince Giuliano, of development partner PDG Corporation, and Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Sally Capp. An enthusiastic advocate for revitalisation of the Market precinct, the Lord Mayor said, “This development is in an area of our city set to benefit from a massive $268 million renewal under the City of Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market Precinct Renewal program. The Market is frequently named Melbourne’s top attraction by visitors. It’s also an institution loved by Melburnians. To be able to bring guests into the heart of what makes our city great is a wonderful addition to our tourism offering.”
Giuliano, likewise, is confident the new hotel will attract further quality development in the Market precinct. “It’s been a pleasure working on this project with the Veriu Group. We’re delighted they bought into our vision for the property and also that Veriu Queen Victoria Market is now open for business.
“Not only will the new hotel, combined with the ground floor restaurants and bars, provide this part of Melbourne with some much-needed amenity we also believe it will pave the way for other brands and businesses to follow suit as the Precinct Renewal program really starts to gather momentum,” Giuliano added.
Veriu Group’s upcoming openings include the 40-apartment Punthill Essendon North; the brand’s first Sydney Punthill property, Punthill Norwest; and the start of construction on its first two regional Punthill properties – Punthill Maitland in NSW and Punthill Geelong in Victoria; as well as the commencement of construction of Punthill’s first NSW greenfield site located in the heart of Liverpool.
The launch of the Group’s second Victorian property, the 95-room Veriu Collingwood is also scheduled for early next year, bringing a little New York Soho-inspired architecture to Collingwood, one of the inner city’s most popular locales.
Lead image: Studio Micro-Aparment, Veriu Queen Victoria Market.