Hilton Melbourne Airport transforming into Parkroyal?

Hilton’s Melbourne Airport hotel could soon be rebranded under the PARKROYAL name following today’s announcement that the hotel has been acquired by the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. 

The Hilton Melbourne Airport hotel is currently the only airport hotel in Australia that enjoys direct connectivity with the terminal building, and for such a prime location Pan Pacific Hotels Group shelled out almost $142 million to acquire it.  

The Pan Pacific Hotels Group has to wait until the current management deal for the hotel ends with Hilton next year, at which point they will have the chance to rebrand it. The acquisition must also get the rubber stamp from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board. 

The PARKROYAL hotel brand is a relative newcomer to the Australian market, but already the brand has two hotels in Sydney, the PARKROYAL Darling Harbour and the PARKROYAL Parramatta, both of which were rebranded from Crowne Plaza hotels. The Pan Pacific Hotels Group will also be opening a new hotel in Perth on January 6th, but under the Pan Pacific brand rather than the PARKROYAL brand. 

The news may be disappointing to those who relied on the Melbourne Airport Hilton to rack up HHonors points. The PARKROYAL brand is part of the Global Hotel Alliance, which uses the GHA Discovery rewards program. There are 12 other brands associated with the program, and membership benefits can be more forthcoming than other programs, even at low tiers - for example, for staying just one night you can become a gold member, after which you are entitled to a ‘Local Experience’ package, as well as complimentary Internet access, bottled water and a newspaper.