Record price expected for Ibis Wellington

The Ibis Wellington Hotel at 153 Featherston St.

The Ibis Wellington hotel on the corner of Featherston St and Panama St in the heart of the capital's CBD has come onto the market.

"This is one of New Zealand's best performing mid-market hotels," says Dean Humphries, national director of Colliers International Hotels, who is marketing the 200 room, 3.5 star Qualmark-rated hotel for sale exclusively by way of international expressions of interest closing at 4 pm on Tuesday December 1.

"We expect strong interest in this property off the back of a period of exceptional growth in the tourism sector and strong investment demand," Humphries says. "There has never been a better time to own a hotel in the country."

Humphries cites statistics from the latest Colliers International Hotel Market Snapshot showing significant improvements in trading conditions across the key hotel markets in the country, driven by record in-bound visitation levels, and a tightly constrained short-to-medium term supply pipeline.

"The timing is now right to offer this quality asset to the market and this particular hotel benefits from its strategic location in the heart of the Wellington city centre, with many of the city's key demand drivers located within walking distance to it," he says. "The property is close to Lambton Quay and within walking distance to Parliament, the TSB Arena, Westpac Stadium and Te Papa Museum."

Humphries says the Wellington hotel sector is performing at unprecedented levels with occupancy now sitting at circa 77 per cent with average room rates in excess of $150.

"While traditionally one of the most stable markets in the country, the Wellington market has over recent months benefitted from buoyant market conditions, with revenue per available room [RevPAR] growing eight per cent to $117 for the year ending September 2015.

Dean Humphries, of Colliers International.

Humphries says strong tourism sector growth is anticipated to continue into the foreseeable future with international visitation numbers to New Zealand showing no signs of slowing down after reaching three million annual visitor arrivals for the first time back in July.

"The falling New Zealand dollar and the country's growing reputation as a safe tourism destination are also driving factors for further improvements in room rates through the increasing number of visitors visiting the country coupled with key markets trading at or close to capacity."

Humphries anticipates a record price for the 100 per cent non-smoking hotel based on pricing trends observed from recent transactions including Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland Airport, Kingsgate Hotel Wellington (now the Thorndon Hotel Wellington by Rydges) and the Novotel and Ibis hotels in Ellerslie, Auckland.

The Wellington Ibis complex, which has limited secure car parking, includes the Vivant restaurant which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily and offers an affordable menu featuring modern international cuisine while showcasing New Zealand products. The restaurant also offers cabinet food like sandwiches, salads and muffins for dining in or as takeaways.

The Vivant Bar is promoted as being the ideal place for coffee and casual dining in a relaxed, modern atmosphere and has an extensive beverage list including a range of wines, beer and non-alcoholic drinks with a daily happy hour between 4-5pm.