Sydney’s top hotel on the market….

An article in the Daily Telegraph says that the hotel where Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban checked in for their wedding night, the Rolling Stones enjoyed a party on the roof, and recent host of other VIP guests including Elton John, Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes, is to go on the market for more than $170 million.

Sydney’s plush Park Hyatt Hotel is perched on the waterside at the Rocks opposite the Opera House and the lowest rise luxury hotel in Sydney could be in for an upgrade, with the new owners potentially taking advantage of development approval for more suites to be built on top of the existing structure.

Property and tourism investor MFS yesterday said a bidding war had already begun for arguably the most valuable piece of hotel real estate in the world.

The hotel’s most expensive room, the $6600 governor’s suite, features six balconies, a dining room and a marble bathroom with a spa and panoramic private viewing window of the Opera House.

MFS tourism chief executive Rolf Krecklenberg said the company had received several enquiries from local and international investors to buy the 158-room luxury hotel.

“The Park Hyatt Hotel has to be the most affordable deluxe hotel in the First World and we have already been presented with several offers in excess of $170 million,” Mr Krecklenberg said. MFS shares jumped 11c to $4.51 as it said the Hyatt had further development opportunity through an existing development approval for the addition of apartment-style accommodation or further accommodation suites.

And it will no doubt remain one of the favourites for VIPs, with Richard Branson, Britney Spears, Sylvester Stallone and Elle Macpherson among others to make it their home while staying in town.

MFS said the hotel has reported record trading performances over the past 12 months, resulting in a 50 per cent rise in investor returns and it has forecast revenue growth to rise by 8 per cent in the coming year.

Challenger Financial Services acquired the Park Hyatt in July 2003 for $137.5 million and created the property syndicate PH Sydney Hotel Trust.

MFS, which manages the PH Sydney Hotel Trust through a financial services subsidiary, will seek approval for the sale at the trust’s annual general meeting next month.

MFS’s subsidiary McLaughlins Financial Services became the responsible entity for the trust in September 2005. The trust has 2400 retail investors.

Report by The Mole and The Daily Telegraph