TFE Hotels will introduce its first Collection property to Sydney at TOGA Group’s mixed-use development, Surry Hills Village.
The 102-room design-led hotel will feature curved brickwork and stone pathways, and is intended to serve as an urban escape, with a rooftop infinity pool offering city views. Care and attention to detail will be a strong focus in the guest experience.
“It’s going to be very high-level urban resort that [offers guests] the ability to switch off and relax but still feel that they’re very close to everything they need,” TFE Hotels Director of Development, John Sutcliffe, told HM exclusively.
“It will certainly appeal to leisure travellers, but it will lend itself to multiple market segments.”
The boutique hotel, which is expected to open in early 2024, will be the linchpin of the wider mixed-use precinct, which will feature food and beverage venues, retail stores and residential accommodation.
“This will be a curated precinct of sophisticated retail, a new bespoke hotel, stylish residences, a progressive workspace and contemporary event spaces,” said TOGA Group Managing Director and TFE Hotels Chairman, Allan Vidor.
Currently under construction, the 1.2ha development will link Marriott Street and Baptist Street through a public pedestrian thoroughfare and will feature a public park and up to 12,000sqm of retail and commercial space.
Fink Group, the company behind some of Sydney leading restaurants including Quay, Bennelong and Firedoor, will operate food and beverage venues in the precinct.
“Important to our vision is the legacy we create and leave for the communities in which we develop, and we see that Surry Hills Village will be a place that people can live, work, stay and visit for many years to come,” Vidor added.
‘An individual story’
Collection by TFE Hotels aims to offer a completely individual experience at each property, making it “a destination in its own right”.
“We’re finding that people want to stay at more than one [of these Collection hotels] because each one is a different experience, unique to its own locale,” Sutcliffe explained.
Collection hotels are often legacy builds for owners and have a lot more meaning than a typical hotel investment, he said.
“The Collection hotels have to have an individual story, and so we look for an owner that wants to be involved and closely connected to the hotel,” Sutcliffe said.
TFE is careful to protect the reputation and individuality of the Collection portfolio and for that reason has refuted offers that don’t align with the brand.
“A lot of developers approach us wanting a Collection hotel off the back of the success of the others, and we have declined to do them because we’re very protective over the brand, and we’re very protective over the owners within that portfolio. We only want to grow it with really special individual hotels.”
The Surry Hills property will be the fifth to open under the Collection by TFE Hotels banner, following Brisbane’s The Calile Hotel and New Zealand’s first 5 Green Star hotel, The Hotel Britomart.
TFE said several other bespoke properties are currently in development across the country.