Representing a portfolio shake-up and region record, the Maloufs’ Royal Hotels group has sold the oceanfront Caves Beach Hotel to the Gravanis’ expanding Oscars Hotels.
Royal Hotels has expanded on operations at the seaside resort-style venue, and after the better part of a decade saw the current market as an ideal time to divest and redeploy capital.
“We have enjoyed our time building the Caves Beach Hotel business and relationships within the community, and look favourably towards the continued growth of the business by such esteemed operators, as are Oscars Hotels so widely renowned,” said the group in a statement.
Bill and Mario Gravanis have made no secret of a push toward large-format hotels with strong accommodation.
This has manifested in the Group’s purchase of the ‘Beachie’ Hotel early 2021 from David Kingston, and divestment of several pubs, including The Strand to Jon Adgemis’ new group in May and the Empire of Annandale in October, the Five Islands to Paddy Coughlan in June, and currently on the market, the Sports Hotel of Bankstown.
Beyond its sand-kissed bars and thriving f&b operation, the Caves Beach Hotel sports 39 beachside bungalows.
Sources close to the deal say sale price was circa $35 million, which is said to be a record for the Newcastle region.
This follows the all-time record sale of the Crossroads Hotel in western Sydney for around $160 million, announced Monday.
Agents on both deals, HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe, note the rarity of this kind of coastal property asset with a strong diversity of revenue streams.
“Material hospitality businesses with $10m+ of annual revenue, and affixed to significant land holdings in coastal locations, remain at the very vanguard of key investor acquisition objectives nationally,” says Jolliffe.
