Choice Hotels Asia-Pacific is set to open its 15th Ascend Hotel Collection property for the Australia and New Zealand region, located on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The new property, named First Light Mooloolaba, will feature 67 self-contained apartments ranging between one and three bedrooms, as well as a pool and a gym.
As a newer building in the area, it has a modern appeal and is expected to attract both leisure and corporate guests.
Choice Hotels Asia-Pacific CEO, Trent Fraser, said that the company is delighted that First Light Mooloolaba is becoming the 15th Ascend Hotel Collection property in ANZ in the same year the brand is celebrating 15 years on the market.
“This all-apartment hotel, with its home-away-from-home luxuries, is the perfect example of what makes properties in the Collection so special,” said Fraser.
The new property has been specifically designed to offer unique experiences in exceptional surroundings. The new hotel will join the collection of more than 320 independent hotels either open or currently being developed in over 15 countries.
Fraser added that the new hotel has welcomed back former franchisee owners, Chris and Olivia Taylor.
“Access to extensive global sales in both business and leisure markets, plus the comprehensive revenue management services, really is what attracted us to revisit a relationship with Choice," Chris Taylor said.
Choice Hotels Asia-Pacific has recruited a group of local expert revenue managers, who have worked with franchisees to set up a strategy for rate monitoring for participating hotels within the group. This has included the use of an automated revenue management service, ChoiceMAX, which can provide instant access to current and historical market data, as well as offers support to franchisees to set the best rates for the current time.
First Light Mooloolaba is expected to open before the end of 2023, with indications it could be as soon as the end of August. First Light Mooloolaba would mark the second hotel from the Ascend Collection to be opened in the second quarter of the 2023 financial year, following the launch of a Takayama City hotel in July, nestled within the Japanese Alps.
