A 200-room luxury hotel featuring spectacular ocean views will become the jewel in Geelong’s accommodation crown when it opens alongside the city’s new convention centre.Crowne Plaza Geelong will be the region’s first 4.5 star hotel when it opens for business in 2026, when the convention centre is also due for completion.
The hotel will include spacious suites, an on-site restaurant and bar, pool and gym as well as meeting spaces designed to compliment the adjacent convention facility.
Crowne Plaza is the premium offering of IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s largest accommodation providers.
IHG is also behind the global Holiday Inn chain, which will open its first hotel in Geelong next month.
IHG Australia and Pacific Managing Director Matt Tripolone told Geelong Broadcasters the city continues to boom.
“There’s a transformation taking place in Geelong and that’s why we’re so interested to be part of what’s going on there,” Mr Tripolone said.
“It’s been spoken about for some time about building investment into regional centres and Geelong is one of the key regional centres in Victoria.
“There’ll be significant investment over the next decade and we want to be a part of that.”Mr Tripolone said the Geelong Convention Centre, and IHG’s Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, would be a significant part of Geelong’s ongoing development.
“Accommodation is complementary to the dynamics that drive particular markets – generally you need to build the accommodation to support change and infrastructure investment.
“The fact that we have been able to attract partners that are willing to invest a significant amount of capital to develop two wonderful new hotels in Geelong is a great reflection of the transformation that’s happening there.
“(They) will help create a stack of jobs; between the two hotels we’re talking close to 400 permanent and casual positions once construction is finished, and probably 1,000 jobs during the construction phase.”
Images: (top) Rendering of the new Crowne Plaza Geelong; (middle) Convention Centre
