BY JAMES WILKINSON
Despite InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) being confident it would retain branding at the Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth, Crown Limited has confirmed the two hotels on site will be re-branded from July.
InterContinental Perth Burswood and Holiday Inn Perth Burswood are set to be re-branded Crown Metropol and Crown Promenade respectively, reflecting the upscale brands’ successful positioning in the Melbourne market.
Crown Limited announced in mid-December 2011 that it would re-brand the Burswood Entertainment Complex as Crown Perth before the end of 2012 and at the time, a spokesperson for IHG told HM that the change in name would “have no impact on the management of the two hotels”.
But last Friday’s announcement (Mar 2) of the properties’ re-flagging suggests the Jamie Packer-owned Crown Limited had every intention of rebranding the hotels and the lack of a Crown Towers name on the former InterContinental Hotel also confirms Packer’s intention to develop a luxury hotel on the site, something that has been mooted in recent months.
“Following the recent announcement that Burswood Entertainment Complex will change its name to Crown Perth later in 2012, InterContinental Perth Burswood and Holiday Inn Perth Burswood hotels will undergo a full re-brand,” Crown said in the statement.
“In line with the completion of the hotel refurbishment in July, InterContinental Perth Burswood will change its name to Crown Metropol, and Holiday Inn Perth Burswood will change its name to Crown Promenade.”
Packer has been upgrading Burswood to international standards in recent times, particularly on the dining side with the introduction of star chef Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill, alongside Nobu Perth, and later this year (September), Bistro Guillaume by Sydney-based, three-star Michelin-trained French Chef Guillaume Brahimi.