December opening for Bunbury Mantra

BUNBURY will get its first new hotel in almost 10 years this Christmas with the opening of The Mantra Bunbury, attached to the Silos apartment development on the Koombana waterfront.

The $24 million, four-star hotel is slated to open in late December, with local business and community leaders getting a sneak peak at the hotel's opening night on December 1.

The Mantra Bunbury will feature 64 studio rooms, spa, swimming pool and tennis courts, with an Escape Day Spa located on the ground level of the hotel lobby.

It will be managed by Queensland-based Stella Hospitality Group, and is adjacent to the Waterfront development featuring bars, cafes, restaurants and direct beach access.

The hotel is attached to The Silos Bunbury, a residential apartment development of two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments housed in the city's former wheat silos.

Stella Hospitality regional sales and marketing manager WA and SA, David Grove, said the opening of the hotel just before Christmas should take advantage of the active leisure market during that period.

"Opening up in the festive season will encourage the leisure side of the market during December-January, and from February we should see the corporate market kick in," Mr Grove told Business Class.

"Like anything with the corporate market, they want to experience something new to see if it's going to suit their needs."

Mr Grove expects there will be strong demand for hotel accommodation from the corporate sector, with a number of infrastructure and resource projects planned for the region.

The Mantra Bunbury is the fourth Western Australian hotel property for Stella Hospitality Group, which bought the Saville Hotel Group almost two years ago.

The group also manages the 152-apartment Mantra on Hay in East Perth (formerly the Saville Park Suites Perth) and the 190-room Mantra on Murray (formerly Pacific International Suites).

It has also taken over the management of the former Saville City Suites Geraldton, consisting of 24 self-contained one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments above Champion Bay.

The group is the country's largest branded hotel network chain, with 150 properties nationally under its three hotel brands including Peppers Retreats, Resorts and Hotels, Mantra Hotels, Resorts and Apartments and BreakFree Hotels, Resorts and Apartments.