Quest moves up in hotel rankings, closing in on Intercontinental

Serviced apartments group Quest is now the fourth biggest hotel operator in Australia, according to rankings compiled by CBRE. 

The group was ranked seventh in December 2010. 

Quest’s ranking improved following the opening of new serviced apartment properties in the Melbourne suburbs of Moorabbin, Hawthorn and Cheltenham. 

The new properties mean Quest now operates 108 hotels in Australia, providing 5,800 rooms to mostly business travellers.

 The top three biggest hotel operators remain Accor (brands include Novotel, Sofitel, Grand Mercure, Hotel Formule 1), Mantra and the Intercontinental Hotel Group.

On the ownership front, Tourism Asset Holding Limited, Mirvac Investment Management and the Schwartz Family Company have retained their status as the three biggest hotel owners in the country. 

The biggest mover is Amalgamated Holdings which increased from eighth to sixth place in the rankings over the six-month period. 

The group owns Rydges resorts and the Thredbo Alpine Resorts and will add to its portfolio with new projects such as a boutique hotel on the site of the former Gowing Bros store in Sydney.

CBRE Hotels senior director Wayne Bunz says Amalgamated has sought to capitalise on the GFC period by acquiring a number of assets. 

“At the same time the overall number of rooms controlled by the Top 10 operators has dropped by over 2% in the first half of the year as new owner operators and investors vie for market share. This has seen investment funds such as GPT and Thakral drop in the rankings, with GPT having dropped out of the Top 10 list altogether,” Bunz says.