Last week, News Corp ran a piece stating that the Coogee Bay Hotel and its adjoining accommodation hotel were up for sale. Owners C!NC have since denied those claims.
In the article run by News Corp, it suggested that the large-format eastern suburbs beachside hotel, and its accommodation offering were being marketed for sale for a projected $250 million. The piece also suggested that Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes – who owns the nearby Coogee Pavilion – was interested in acquiring the property.
C!NC, which has owned and operated the hotel for almost three decades, has since released a statement calling the piece “inaccurate”, and clearing up the situation with the Coogee Bay Hotel.
“Last week, the media published a speculative and inaccurate story about the Coogee Bay Hotel being for sale.
“As a result of a number of unsolicited approaches by potential buyers, we decided in early 2018 to test the market in order to establish the potential value of the site and the hotel operations.
“An invitation-only process was conducted and completed in April 2018. The board of C!NC concluded at the completion of the process that business would continue as usual.”
The statement reaffirms the hotel group’s dedication to the hotel and its surrounding community.
“C!NC remains fully committed to the Coogee Bay Hotel, its staff and the local community, with exciting plans to develop our operations over the next few years.
“We are proud of the contribution we have made to the area, including our support for the Sydney Children’s Hospital, the Coogee Surf Lifesaving Club, and we intend to build on our 27 year ownership of the hotel.”
In a call to Australian Hotelier, C!NC managing director Chris Cheung laughed off the rumours, calling them “not true” and stated unequivocally that the hotel was not for sale.
Just last year, the group had invested heavily in a variety of new food and beverage offerings for the hotel, in a sign of its commitment to the venue.