It was late in the evening as final preparations were underway for the grand opening of W Sydney.
General Manager TITUS ROSIER snuck into a meeting room to speak to Traveltalk about the hotel and what it brings to the Harbour City.
Q: The hotel has been open for a while and its arrival has been somewhat dramatic. Tell us about that.
A: It’s been a project in the making for a long time. Lots of stops and starts and that sort of thing.
There’s a history for sure, although I wasn’t part of that history myself. But, I think building a building of this magnitude during a pandemic in between two highways obviously brings a few complications.
So I think the design and building phase took a little bit longer than expected, but that was okay.
I’ve opened several hotels and to be honest, they’ve never opened on time, so that wasn’t really a surprise. In my opinion, when the hardware is done, then it comes up to us to deliver the software and really look at the guest experience.
And that’s where these last four or five months came into play.
Once people start using the building, you can kind of see where your strengths are and where there’s a little bit of a need to tweak the operation.
That’s what we’ve been focusing on really, through three different eyes.
First of all, convenience. It’s a big building, with 588 units, restaurants and two swimming pools.
Also, giving people a seamless experience while checking in, going through the rooms or dining. We are a lifestyle brand so how do we deliver on that brand promise?
And finally, we want to ensure that we deliver on the luxury promise. Making sure that we anticipate our guests needs, that we deliver on the promise and that the experience is still personalised. I think that’s the journey that we’ve been on for the last five months since opening and we can just see the improvement and the excitement growing.
Q: How would you say the hotel varies from other properties in Sydney and what are the key things that makes it different?
A: I’m new to the destination but I know the brand very well.
I think number one is design, which is so prominent. Our location is incredible: the entire Darling Harbour area is being uplifted and we are prominent in it.
Whether you come over the bridges or walk through the city, you see that W from almost every angle, so the design is really out there.
Secondly, I think the brand encourages social behaviour and a lifestyle experience.
I don’t think there’s really a lifestyle property in Sydney like this, at least that’s so loud and bold about it.
For example, walking into our living room, having a music experience, having people enjoying a cocktail. The idea is that we want you to walk away from your check in and enjoy the hotel before you do your registration.
I also think there’s definitely an ‘on brand’ lifestyle experience on the rooftop where we have an amazing bar and pool area.
The third aspect where we’re very different is location proximity. We’re incredibly fortunate to be in such a prime location, connecting Chinatown with Darling Harbour and close to the city, but still very secluded.
You can read more about the hotel’s opening here.
