Heart Starter For Tourism With New Hotel Almost Finished

Airlie Beach is set for a heart starter come the end of September, with the Heart Hotel in the final stages of construction.

Offering an up market experience in the centre of town, building owner Des Davey said they wanted the hotel to remain current 50 years into the future.

“So a rendered concrete block building that you would find in Brisbane or the Gold Coast was never going to be suitable for here,” he said.

“The brief for the architect was beach house/ Queenslander and I think he hit it pretty well.

“We didn’t want to build a white elephant.”

Hotelier Jeff Aquilina, managing director of atHotel Group, said the Heart Hotel would offer “an upscale luxury hotel product”.

“Which is new for Airlie Beach,” he said.

“So we hope to attract additional visitors to Airlie Beach and the region.”

Mr Aquilina said they would “extend every possible service” to guests.

“The service approach is to never say no,” he said.

“So we actually have a pre-arrival survey that we send out to our customers.

“It asks questions like what distance they would like to be from the elevator, what would they like the air conditioning to be pre-set to, are they an international customer that needs international adaptors.”

While the hotel will offer an on-site spa, restaurant and travel agent, Mr Aquilina said a complementary limousine service would also allow guests to travel in style around town.

“So rather than going in a taxi somewhere, we will look after the guests directly,” he said.

“So that’s an extra level of service that’s not offered certainly in the Whitsundays and probably not offered quite commonly throughout Australia.”

Built using all local trades, Mr Davey said being a part of the community was an essential aspect.

“It’s important that we invest the money back into the community,” he said.

SOURCE: WHITSUNDAY TIMES