Luxury Hotel-Branded Apartments Entice Buyers

Luxury residences attached to five-star hotels have long been a hit with apartment buyers who wanted a place to live with access to hotel services and amenities.

Now, developers are finding that they can sell units at above-market rates for a luxury hotel branded residence, even if there’s no accompanying hotel.

U.K. developer Finchatton transformed the former British headquarters of the U.S. Navy into the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts’ first stand-alone private residences, featuring 37 homes with sales prices starting at 17.5 million pounds, approx. $33 million.

The project completed construction in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood in 2019. Despite an interruption in sales caused by the pandemic, “only a handful” of units remain unsold, said a spokeswoman for the selling agent Knight Frank.

Mandarin Oriental is poised to open its first stand-alone branded residences in New York City, Beverly Hills and Barcelona. The U.S. residential units are expected to hit the market in the fall, the company said.

In Utah, the St. Regis Deer Valley, which opened in 2009, has recently added private residences to the resort. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is working on a number of stand-alone branded residences under its Waldorf Astoria and Conrad brands and plans to announce at least one project within the year, a spokeswoman said.

Overall, the number of hotel-branded residences more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. The sector added 52,000 homes in 370 separate developments, according to real-estate firm Savills PLC.

Originally, these residences offered a convenient way for property developers to fund the building of high-end hotels, which can be costly and challenging to finance through conventional loans. Instead, proceeds from apartment sales help cover the hotel construction costs.

“If I put your brand on it, it will help me sell these residences faster and for a higher price,” said Tim Grisius, Marriott International Inc.’s global mergers and acquisition and real estate officer.

Marriott has built 17 stand-alone luxury residences worldwide, in places like Sunny Isles Beach in South Florida and Bodrum, Turkey, under its Ritz-Carlton brand. It has another 17 projects in the pipeline.

‘If I put your brand on it, it will help me sell these residences faster and for a higher price.’

— Tim Grisius, Marriott International

As these residences grew in popularity, real-estate firms found that the units attracted wealthy buyers even without the full slate of hotel amenities. That’s because buyers of private residences tend to have a strong loyalty to the luxury brand and believe that attention to detail will be high, said Rupert des Forges, head of prime central London developments at Knight Frank.

“They feel that the brand would not put its name to something if they could not provide the right level of service,” he said.

Branded residences usually offer much the same services as a luxury hotel but on a smaller scale, including spa facilities, a bar and restaurant, movie theatre, and private dining rooms. Hotel-trained staff run the property and concierge, promising the same level of service to owners as to hotel guests.

Apartment buyers are often willing to pay a premium for branded residences compared with other luxury buildings, though the level of that premium varies. In London, a city overflowing with prime apartment buildings, Mr. des Forges said the extra cost of buying the property, compared with an equally high-end new apartment, was marginal.

In the Alps, however, five-star brands are increasingly experimenting with residences in ski resorts. Jeremy Rollason, head of real-estate agent Savills’s ski department, said these residences far outdo the resorts’ existing apartment buildings. He estimates that buyers have to pay premiums of between 10% and 20% for these “ultraluxury” homes.

Hotel residences have existed at least since 1927, when New York City’s Sherry-Netherland opened. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that the sector really took off. By last year, branded residences were located in more than 60 countries, according to Knight Frank.

After tapping demand in traditional coastal and city locations, developers are now building these residences in upscale ski resorts in Europe and the U.S.

Hard Rock Café International Inc. opened its first European ski resort and residences in Davos, Switzerland, in 2017, while Ritz-Carlton plans to open in 2026 a resort plus residences in Zermatt, Switzerland.

While the pandemic has slowed most international travel, Marriott’s Mr. Grisius said that demand for residences had actually increased, possibly at the expense of traditional hotels.

“People are not travelling as much,” he said. “Our residences are fuller than they usually are.”

PHOTO: FINCHATTON

Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: August 10, 2021

Sydney is well and truly on the world map when it comes to luxury residential property, rivalling—and even beating—the likes of Tokyo and Dubai in terms of price per square metre.

The harbour capital has also proven itself to be a powerhouse for luxury residential rental growth. Knight Frank’s Prime Global Rental Index Q4 2024 showed prime rents across Sydney grew 4.7 per cent over 2024, the fifth-highest growth globally.

This has pushed several of Sydney’s top suburbs over the $2,000 per week median rent mark for a house, with surrounding areas fast approaching the milestone.

We’ve wrapped up the most expensive suburbs to live in across Sydney, with data sourced from property data analytics firm CoreLogic.

1. Vaucluse: Median purchase: $8.69m; Median rent: $2,198

Vaucluse has consistently ranked as Sydney’s most expensive suburb for rental properties over the past few years, even with annual rents contracting by over 14 per cent. What sets it apart is its unique geography—it’s the only suburb in the Eastern Suburbs that stretches from the harbour to the ocean. Homes in Vaucluse top the price charts because most either boast Sydney Harbour views or enjoy uninterrupted outlooks over the Pacific Ocean.

The Neighbourhood

While most Eastern Suburbs have one main beach, Vaucluse is dotted with several secluded spots, such as Parsley Bay, Milk Beach, and the recently reopened Shark Beach, which had been closed for several years due to retaining wall repairs.

2. Dover Heights: Median purchase: $6.38m; Median rent: $2,024

Vaucluse’s immediate southern neighbour, Dover Heights, is the only other suburb in Sydney with a median house rental over $2,000. Dover Heights hugs the cliffs and is well known as one of the most tightly held house markets in the Eastern Suburbs. The homes are perched on the cliffside, and the majority of houses in the area have at least four bedrooms, pushing up prices.

The Neighbourhood

While there are no beaches to speak of, its elevated position provides some of the highest views of Sydney Harbour. It is also home to the Federation Cliff Walk, a five-kilometre clifftop walk with postcard views of the Pacific Ocean from Dover Heights to Watsons Bay.

3. Bronte: Median purchase: $5.64m, Median rent: $1,963

Bronte takes out the title of the most expensive of the ‘typical’ Eastern Suburbs beachside suburbs. Just 30 per cent of homes in Bronte are separate houses, with nearly half being apartments. Houses in the rental pool are typically original homes dating back to the 1960s that have been renovated over the last decade or so.

The Neighbourhood
Bronte has long been a favourite due to its more relaxed beachside lifestyle compared to the busier Bondi, although Bronte is no longer a ‘hidden gem’ anymore. It offers numerous lifestyle perks, from a small high street lined with shops and cafés to several eateries located by the beach, which also features one of the best natural ocean pools in the Eastern Suburbs.

4. North Bondi: Median purchase: $4.81m; Median rent: $1,932

North Bondi has become a hotbed of new homes, with frequent sales of either original houses or older apartment complexes being bought to be demolished and replaced by brand-new contemporary builds. There’s a mix of original cottages and new homes in the rental pool, the latter fetching over $7,000 a week.

The Neighbourhood
North Bondi is situated in a small pocket, just south of Dover Heights and north of Bondi Beach. Starting at the Ben Buckler Peninsula, near where Campbell Parade transitions into Military Road, North Bondi is one of the most secluded areas on the coastline, with Hastings Parade, Brighton Boulevard, and Ramsgate Avenue all offering a southward view over the sand.

5. Balgowlah Heights: Median purchase: $4.13m; Median rent: $1,930

Balgowlah Heights is the most expensive suburb to rent a house in the Northern Beaches. Land sizes tend to be much larger, and you get more for your money in the area compared to the East.

The Neighbourhood
Balgowlah Heights is the harbourside southern neighbour of Balgowlah. The Sydney Harbour National Park occupies half of the leafy suburb, part of the Manly to Spit Bridge Walk, and is home to Tania Park, with a children’s playground and sporting facilities overlooking Manly Cove. Nestled on the northern shores of Sydney Harbour, it offers a serene and leafy environment.

6. Bellevue Hill: Median purchase: $10.63m; Median rent: $1,917

Bellevue Hill stands as one of Sydney’s most prestigious suburbs and has some of the largest houses by median land size.

Given the large gap between median purchase price and median rental price, it is no wonder renters want to live among $10m homes and pay under $2,000 a week, when a $10m purchase means $2m deposit, over $500k in stamp duty, and roughly $12,000 a week in repayments.

Most mansions will never make it to public rental sites and are often snapped up by Hollywood stars, musicians, or even royalty when they visit Australia.

The Neighbourhood
One of the biggest drawcards for those living in Bellevue Hill is the proximity to two of the country’s top schools. While there are no catchment areas for private schools, Cranbrook School and Scots College will always draw affluent families to the suburb. Scots fees start at around $30,000 per annum from Year One and reach nearly $50,000 by Year 12.

Sydney’s Cheapest Suburb: Tregear; Median purchase: $782,000; Median rent: $544

The cheapest suburb to rent in Sydney is Tregear, located on the outskirts of Mt Druitt, approximately 50 km west of the CBD. The median house rental is $544, which is four times cheaper than renting a house in Vaucluse. The median house price in Tregear is $782,000, around 12 times less than Vaucluse.

Sydney’s Best Suburb: Point Piper

If money were no object, it’s hard to look past Sydney’s most affluent suburb as the top pick for the best place to live in the city, in my opinion.

It doesn’t even have an actual median house price, simply because so few properties change hands. Last year, just five houses sold, ranging from $8 million to $51.5 million. Homes on the best streets offer gun-barrel views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, while the cosmopolitan Double Bay next door provides all the lifestyle conveniences.