Rydges Hotels and Resorts is expanding its footprint in the world of motorsport, announcing Rydges Pit Lane Hotel at The Bend Motorsport Park.

The hotel will offer an extremely rare and unique hotel experience, being located in the main pit building, with the majority of the rooms overlooking the track, when completed in April 2018.

The Bend Motorsport Park is Australia’s ultimate world-class motorsport development, just outside of Adelaide, South Australia, and will play host to some of the biggest motorsport races in Australia, including Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, Shannons National Championship and more.

Rydges is no stranger to motorsport, operating Rydges Bathurst which lies on south-west outskirts of Bathurst, on the famous Mount Panorama race track, with uninterrupted views of Conrod Straight.

Event Hospitality and Entertainment, Director of Hotels and Resorts Operations, Norman Arundel, said the company was delighted to grow its racetrack hotel footprint.

“The Rydges Pit Lane Hotel will offer an unparalleled experience for motor sports enthusiasts. They will be able to absorb the excitement of the racing action from their hotel room balconies overlooking the pit lane track,” he said.

“We look forward to bringing Rydges brand and the customer experience it is renowned for to The Bend Motorsport Park,” Arundel said.

The new four-star Rydges Pit Lane Hotel will include 100 rooms of varying configurations, from twin share, king rooms and suites. All rooms will be well insulated with double glazing to provide a sanctuary away from the race track when desired. When guests want to absorb the racing action they can open up doors to the balcony overlooking the pit lane and track.

Hotel guests will enjoy the renowned Rydges Dream Beds and complimentary Wi-Fi. A gym facility and business centre will be available for hotel guests with catering available through the lobby bar and café.

The pit building will also incorporate a function centre, with multiple rooms, which can host from 20 to 600 people. The centre will be located on the atrium overlooking the racing circuit and will offer premium catering services.

Rydges Pit Lane Hotel and The Bend Motorsport Park developer Peregrine Corporation’s Director, Dr Sam Shahin, said the hotel will offer an experience which has never been seen in Australia and will bring a new level of viewing and convenience for motorsport fans.

“This is truly revolutionary not just for The Bend Motorsport Park, but for South Australia and motorsport in Australia,” he said.

“We anticipate The Bend Motorsport Park project will cost approximately $100million, whilst injecting $236 million into the local economy annually and generating over 1500 jobs for the region.”

The Bend is unique in having many motorsport disciplines ‘through the one gate’, including circuit racing for cars and motorcycles, Australia’s only purpose-built drift circuit, a CIK-FIA standard karting circuit, a rally cross circuit, an international Group 1 dragway, driver training facilities, a 4WD adventure park and a rally/off-road facility.

Rydges Pit Lane Hotel will be taking bookings from 13th December 2017 and will open in early April 2018. Through Rydges and its Priority Guest Rewards (PGR) loyalty programme, they will have access to over 54 hotels in key destinations across Australia, New Zealand and London in the United Kingdom. PGR members also gain access to the GHA DISCOVERY loyalty programme that gives recognition and benefits across 35 hotel brands with 550 hotels in 76 countries.

James Wilkinson

Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Management