As part of the 2025 Annual Industry Leaders Forum series, Solotel CEO Elliot Solomon spoke about the group’s focus on strengthening its portfolio, from new acquisitions and renovations to an enhanced focus on food and beverage.
Reflecting on 2024, Solomon says it was a challenging but rewarding year for the group, with an emphasis on delivering the same great experience more effectively.
While some venues in the portfolio felt the challenging economic effects of 2024, others went from strength to strength with calendar highlights such as Anzac Day and Sydney’s City2Surf, which drove record sales and created key cultural moments for patrons.
After acquiring the operations of The Norfolk Hotel, Oxford House and Camelia Grove Hotel, as well as commencing works on a new Goros venue in Brisbane, Solomon recalls: “Ending the year with four new venues was quite an achievement. It’s exciting to have these new venues on board.”
Another standout achievement was being named Best Hotel Group Operator at the Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIAs), he says.
“That was bloody awesome. You never go into these awards expecting anything, so it was a really nice surprise. With the ALIAs, it feels particularly nice to be recognised by peers.
“The company has been around for a long time, but in the last five years, starting with Justine Baker, we’ve become much more involved in government policy and advocating for our industry – I think that helped with the recognition.”
On the topic of regulatory changes, Solomon also praised the Labor Government for working towards an environment that encourages growth.
“It’s clear what the strategy is for the late-night economy and that gives businesses confidence to take bigger risks and invest more. Regardless of specifics of the regulations, I think it’s clear how the Government sees the industry and wants us to grow, and that’s incredibly positive.”
Planning for success
After recruiting its first food and beverage director, Joshua Hillary, in 2023, the group enhanced its dining experiences further by appointing Hamish Ingham as group executive chef and Matthew Stewart as head of restaurants and guest experience in 2024.
Driven by the quality of the industry right now, Solomon sees the appointments as a way of positioning Solotel to stay at the forefront.
“Having Josh, Hamish and the like means we can deliver what we want to deliver and grow into the future. The impact is that there’s also a lot of smaller wins, like relaunching the Bank Hotel and The Clock, which are doing incredibly well.
“Because of the people on board in these leadership roles, we’re also now getting incredible talent that want to come work with them and learn from them, and that’s going to make a huge difference to what we deliver. The team are really changing the culture and the mindset, they’re bringing the guest into everything,” he explained.
Not only did Solotel hone in on its food and beverage offering, Solomon says the focus across the board in 2024 was putting the foundations in place for what he anticipates will be a transformative year.
“2025 is going to be a sprint. We’re opening our second Brisbane venue and our second Goros in the first few months, and shortly after, we’ll be opening the Carousel Inn renovation in Rooty Hill, and after a 10-month build it’s one of the biggest renovations we’ve ever done.
“We’re also doing some smaller, but still significant renovations, and the first cab off the rank will be reopening the corner bar of The Norfolk and renovating the Public House Petersham. The first six months are going to be pretty bloody busy, and in the second half of the year we already have more renovations planned,” he concluded.
Changing the mindset
Solomon says that 2024 saw a change of thinking within the executive team, with the guest central to every decision.
“We’re changing the mindset. The guest sits in every meeting now, sits in every room. When we’re making decisions – ultimately for the benefit of the guest – we think about how they will respond to it.”