The opening of Queen’s Wharf Residences in Brisbane represents a major milestone for Minor Hotels in Australasia as the company works towards ambitious expansion targets and strengthened brand presence in the local market.
Last week saw the 64-storey property start welcoming guests, with Minor Hotels Chief Operating Officer Australasia Craig Hooley highlighting it as a pinnacle moment for the Bangkok-based firm.
A significant undertaking for the company, the project has taken “thousands of hours” with more than 40 shipping containers of equipment and furniture shipped to the new address over the last month, he revealed – a hefty logistical challenge as Minor fitted out the more than 200 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
“We didn’t have the capacity to do this deal six years ago,” Hooley told LATTE. “It’s not about money, it’s more about capacity of people, knowledge, resources, to be able to put this together and make it effectively work.”
While this new property is structured around its Oaks apartment concept, it represents an “elevated offering”, hence the decision not to brand it under the Oaks moniker.
“We knew that if we sold this as a base, that we would undersell it,” Hooley said. ”We wanted it to be different. It’s a different uniform here, different feel. The furniture is not standard Oaks, and we wanted to really push it up a level.”
The newcomer brings a slew of luxury features to the table like a heated outdoor swimming pool, al fresco hot tubs with views across the city along with a sauna and steam room. Ideally located to access the precinct’s burst of high-end restaurants, it is right next door to The Star and offers easy access to the Sky Deck, an elevated area, open to the public, offering spectacular 360-degree views as well as a range of bars and restaurants.
In-room features include floor to ceiling windows to best capitalise on the views, with some of the residences fitted with state-of-the-art bi-folds selected for their ability to fuse the indoor-outdoor experience. Toiletries are provided by Elysia Wellness Resort in the Hunter Valley, which Minor acquired in 2019.
The launch of the new property, set amid the thriving Queens Wharf district, coincides with the repositioning of the Oaks brand, announced last week.
Minor’s goal is to transform Oaks from an Australia-focused accommodation provider into a vibrant global player. In line with this, Oaks is targeting the young international traveller, shifting “from a reactive position to a very proactive position”, Hooley explained. This repositioning involved gathering “valuable data insight” and engaging consultants to shape the brand’s future. The new Oaks identity is built around “more vibrant, more engaging” experiences aimed at younger travellers seeking excitement, adventure and convenience.
Despite this evolution, the brand’s Australian roots will continue to play a central role. “The look and feel of the brand is fun, but it’s not snobby, it’s practical,” Hooley explained. Touches that will drive home this messaging include barista-made coffee in lobby areas as well as freshly baked pastries like Lamingtons.
The new identity will be rolled out across the existing network over the next five years, but the concepts will all be built into the first purpose-built Oaks in Sydney, with the just-signed deal representing another important milestone for the brand.It represents one of 10 new Minor properties targeted for Australia over the next 18 months. These will predominantly be Oaks-badged, although Hooley said branding selection would depend on the nature of the opportunities that arise.
And, while the vast majority of its network is in Australia, Oaks is heading overseas, with this “subtle flavour of Oaks’ roots” set to stand it apart in a cluttered market. The brand is already present in the Middle East and China, and further expansion plans are aggressive, playing an important part in Minor’s overall growth strategy.
“We have big targets to grow. So we currently have 565, hotels in 60 countries, but our goal is to hit 800 hotels by 2030,” Hooley said.
Meanwhile, Minor is focused on building its brand presence in the local market so it can stand alongside more established players. ”To be honest with you, we need to do more work in that space,” he admitted. “We soft-launched the Minor brand towards the end of last year globally, we’re now stepping up a level and starting to do more work around educating the market, B2B and B2C.”
These efforts are being led by Minor’s Sydney-based Group Director of Brand and Marketing Melissa Rodrigues in partnership with the team in Bangkok.
“We need to start to sell the Minor hotels brand, particularly here in Australasia, as a leading hospitality operator,” Hooley said. “And so that story needs to build. So, there’s more to come on that – there’s a whole plan.”
