As first revealed by the Mercury almost a year ago, the hotel being built in the Elizabeth Street bus mall will be home to the country’s first Movenpick Hotel.The Movenpick brand sits alongside a suite of other premium Accor hotels such as Pullman, Swissotel, Grand Mercure, Peppers and Sebel.
Accor has joined with Singaporean-based global hospitality group, Global Premium Hotels, in signing a hotel management agreement to open the hotel Movenpick Hotel Hobart in January 2021.Designed by local firm Jaws Architects, the hotel will feature 221 rooms and suites with a restaurant and meeting facilities.
Global Premium Hotels chairman James Koh said the hotel would be a unique addition to the “already vibrant city of Hobart”.“Being strategically located in the heart of Hobart’s CBD on historic Elizabeth Street, we felt it was important for the hotel to embody Tasmania’s rich culture, while still provide travellers with a perfect launch pad to explore Hobart and the wider region,” he said.The Movenpick will also offering guests and visitors Italian cuisine as well as locally inspired signature dishes at its Tesoro Modern Italian restaurant.
Drawing on the brand’s Swiss origins of being famous for chocolate, the hotel will dedicate one hour each afternoon to ‘The Chocolate Hour’ – a tasting experience for hotel guests to sample an assortment of sweet treats, such as eclairs, brownies and truffles.The hotel was previously slated to be the Hyatt Centric Hobart after an announcement in January 2017.
Originally, it was known as the Palace Hotel development and the building was approved by the Hobart City Council in 2016 after 10m in height was removed from the original 73-metre plan to gain council approval.Even after the reduction, at 63 metres, it will still be among some of Hobart’s tallest buildings.
