Sofitel to Check-in to Noosa (Australia)

Accor is to launch its luxury Sofitel brand in one of Queensland's most sought-after resort destinations - Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast. The Sofitel Viridian Noosa will commence construction in early 2004 and is scheduled for opening in mid-2005.

The hotel will be the first internationally-branded luxury resort to open in Noosa for over a decade.

The project is sited on 19 hectares of prime land on Noosa Hill, just above Hastings Street. The Buchan Group is designing the resort to a 'Noosa architectural style' that reflects the sub-tropical beach culture that is synonymous with the Noosa location.

The resort will comprise eight luxury houses, 23 villas and a series of low rise buildings containing 147 one, two and three-bedroom strata-titled apartments and villas. The Sofitel will include a restaurant and bar, resort swimming pool and Golden Door health spa. It will only be the third Golden Door health spa launched in Australia, joining two other highly successful spas in the Gold Coast Hinterlands and NSW Hunter Valley.

Twelve hectares of the resort will be made over to native bushland and walking tracks to popular locations such as Laguna Lookout and Noosa National Park.

The hotel will also be a leading provider of conference and incentive facilities, with the convention centre able to accommodate up to 480 delegates.

The announcement of the Sofitel Viridian Noosa is part of a major expansion of the Sofitel brand in Asia Pacific. There are currently three Sofitels operating in Australia - the Sofitel Melbourne, the Grand Hotel Melbourne and the Sofitel Reef Casino in Cairns. Two other Sofitels are under development: the landmark Wentworth Hotel in Sydney, which will be rebranded a Sofitel after the completion of a $50 million refurbishment next year, and Sofitel Triton Palace in Palm Cove, Queensland.

There are over 160 Sofitels globally, located in some of the world's most prestigious business and resort destinations including the Riviera, the Caribbean, and French Polynesia.

"Sofitel branding will bring a distinctive personality and atmosphere to the Viridian resort and will introduce a new level of sophistication befitting a destination of the quality of Noosa," says Accor Asia Pacific Chairman, David Baffsky.