The Fullerton Hotel Sydney will celebrate the culture, history and character of the building it occupies, while delivering a modern hotel experience to guests upon its opening on 18 October 2019, the company has said.
Speaking on Wednesday at the 100-day countdown until guests are first welcomed at its first international expansion outside Singapore, Fullerton Hotels and Resorts has outlined its program of activities and bespoke experiences available to guests.
Complimentary heritage tours at scheduled times will be available within the hotel, which sits within the General Post Office – once Sydney’s tallest building and dating back to 1869. In addition to a hotel, the building now houses high-end restaurants, bars and dining experiences, offices and the existing postal facilities.
Fullerton Hotel Sydney will aim to recreate this through community events at the hotel. It will also expand The Fullerton Academy – a volunteer program available to staff to participate in mentoring and training sessions to disadvantaged teenagers and youth – to its first site outside Singapore. The Academy seeks to offer workshops in culinary, service, pastry, videography, photography and dining etiquette.
“We plan to share the building’s fascinating history, which spans the hallowed hallways of the heritage building to the ornamental carvings on the façade. We want to tell the tales of early Sydney, where the building dominated the Sydney skyline, and bring the building’s soul and historical significance to life,” said The Fullerton Heritage General Manager, Cavaliere Giovanni Viterale.
An extensive, 18-month cleaning and façade restoration project is currently underway on the building’s exterior, which is expected to be completed in time for the hotel’s opening.
Sustainability and technology will form a key focus of the hotel’s operations. In partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the hotel has signed a Plastic ‘ACTion commitment’ to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bags and straws. In-room paper will also be minimised through the adoption of an in-room tablet device which will run Tapendium – a digital concierge which will allow guests to make dining reservations, book a spa treatment, hail a taxi or arrange a laundry pick-up service.
“Genuine personalised service and hospitality from the heart is at the core of what we do. While we advocate the employment of new technologies, automation and digitisation, our view is that sincerity and compassion make us human, and that these are the elements that keep our guests returning,” Viterale added.