Sydney is set to welcome a new hotel brand – Veriu Hotels & Suites – with the opening of a 64-room serviced apartment hotel, Veriu Broadway, in June 2017.  The hotel is part of a pipeline of five hotels set to open under the Veriu brand by 2019.

Veriu Broadway is an $18 million conversion of a former warehouse space offering self-contained studios, each over 40 square metres, and one and two bedroom split level apartments.  Ideally located close to the International Convention Centre, the hotel will provide 24-hour reception with staff trained as local area guides plus on-site food & beverage in keeping with the precinct's contemporary café and bar offerings.  

Veriu Hotels is a fresh new bespoke hotel brand on the Sydney landscape created by property and hospitality specialists Alex Thorpe and Rhys Williams.  Having successfully developed a long stay accommodation business, Furnished Property, in 2002, Thorpe and Williams have now moved into the hotel space to create a portfolio of hotels with a diverse mix of heritage and new developments, all located in Sydney's thriving city fringe locations.

"We have been providing long stay style self-contained accommodation for 16 years under Furnished Property, where we developed a passion for sharing 'local'. We created Veriu because we saw no reason why a hotel brand can't provide that authentic local experience backed up by traditional hotel services, excellent customer service and attention to detail in rooms,” says Veriu Director, Rhys Williams.

To coincide with the Veriu opening, a rebrand of properties in Camperdown (28 rooms) and Randwick (35 rooms) will also take place following completion of refurbishments to bring them up to Veriu Hotel standard.

The current network is complemented by a pipeline of hotel developments to take place by early 2019:

Veriu Pyrmont (36 rooms) opening 2018

Veriu Central (110 rooms) opening 2018

Veriu Green Square (142 rooms) opening early 2019

Veriu specialises in operating sites with 20-120 rooms in CBD and city fringe areas with capacity to go larger if the location is right.

"Having some flagship CBD sites supported by a number of smaller satellite local properties in the city fringe is central to our strategy.  We make it happen in areas and buildings where the global brands may be less interested,” says Veriu Director, Alex Thorpe.

To date the Veriu model has focused on Lease agreements but both Thorpe and Williams believe one of their strengths is their ability to adapt to all types of development models including potential for franchise or managed hotel agreements in the future.  The group is also open to placing its own equity in development joint ventures with selected capital partners operated by Veriu.  One such partner is ASX listed property funds manager Folkstone Group, which will launch a fund in March to raise $22.5 million of third-party capital to finance the 142-room Green Square hotel development in conjunction with Veriu, slated for a 2018 opening.

In celebration of individuality, Veriu have created a bespoke collection of hotels and suites, each with its own distinct personality and style. All different – and yet all the same in their commitment to providing true and genuine service, a superb location and at the end of the day, a great night's sleep.

"We have seen Sydney emerge as a city of villages and we want to share the uniqueness of Sydney's diversity through the Veriu brand in areas like Camperdown, Broadway, Green Square and Surry Hills. These villages really excite us for the leisure market but equally corporates want these bespoke experiences."

With an authentic local experiences paramount to the Veriu ethos, guests will also receive complimentary drinks and snacks from local area operators and local artists are also engaged to incorporate designs based on the genuine character of the building and neighbourhood.

"Beyond this, we want our guests to move freely through our properties so we have developed a unique concept called "Veriu Connect".  This allows any Veriu guest to drop into one of our other locations, flash a room card and have a complimentary locally sourced drink and ask the concierge about the best places to explore.  You could cover the best of Sydney just by visiting the Veriu network of properties," says Williams.

Guests will be able to discover their surroundings with use of the hotel's complimentary 'explorer bicycles' – a service that will be offered in all future Veriu hotels.  Other complimentary offerings common to all Veriu properties include a welcome drink, WiFi and in-room tunes via Smart TV technology.

ABOUT VERIU HOTELS

Veriu Hotels & Suites are inspired by the authenticity of local experiences combined with the convenience of traditional hotel service and excellence. From June 2017 Veriu will offer hotels located in Sydney's vibrant village precincts of Broadway, Camperdown and Randwick with further hotels opening in Sydney Central and Pyrmont in 2018.  An exciting new build development in Sydney's Green Square, in partnership with Folkstone property fund managers, is set to open in 2019. Veriu Hotels provide both traditional style hotel rooms as well studio, one bedroom and two bedroom apartments incorporating interior design in keeping with local surroundings.  Created by property and hospitality specialists Alex Thorpe and Rhys Williams, who developed a successful long stay accommodation business, Furnished Property, in 2002, the Veriu vision is to create a portfolio of hotels with a diverse mix of heritage and new developments – all purely Sydney and embracing the local village character.  The Veriu name is derived from the Latin word 'verus' which means true and genuine; and 'u' an expression of individuality – the places u go, the people u meet, the experiences u have and the stories u create.