Independent newcomer Trilogy Hotels secures rights to manage four Schwartz properties

Trilogy Hotels, a newly minted independent Australian hospitality group, has secured the management rights of four properties owned by the Schwartz Family Company, the largest privately owned hotel group in the country.

The agreement, described as the first of its kind for Australia, will see Trilogy Hotels take over management of Mercure Sydney, Ibis Sydney World Square, Mercure Canberra and Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains.

It is the first management deal announced by Trilogy Hotels which was founded in December by hospitality veterans Scott Boyes, Tony Ryan and Grant Alchin.

Boyes, who forged a career at Accor over almost 30 years, has previously worked for years with Schwartz Family Company, which is headed by Dr Jerry Schwartz.

With a portfolio of 14 hotels and a total of more than 4,000 rooms controlled by Schwartz, the new management deal raises the possibility of the company signing over more its properties to Trilogy over time.

Schwartz Family Company’s broader asset portfolio also includes Sydney Brewery, the Hunter Valley Conference & Events Centre and Blue Sky Airways.

Trilogy Hotels’ independent management model is said to allow hotel owners and operators to make ‘agile decisions through a local lens’ and offer them an entrepreneurial approach to their investment.

Dr Jerry Schwartz took over the family business from his parents Dr Bela and Eve Schwartz with a vision to unlock the potential of each property in the portfolio.

“This will give us the best of both worlds – greater flexibility in terms of managing the four hotels, complemented by a franchise agreement with Accor to plug into their global distribution systems,” says Schwartz.

“I have known and worked closely with Scott Boyes and his colleagues at Trilogy Hotels for over two decades and they bring an outstanding level of experience, professionalism, and understanding of owners’ needs.

“Each of the four hotels that we’ve signed to Trilogy Hotels is different in location, style, markets and operation, and therefore I will look forward to Trilogy Hotels designing individual strategies to maximise the potential and returns for the assets.”

Boyes describes the agreement for the Schwartz properties as a landmark moment for Trilogy Hotels.

“This long-term agreement is a true meeting of the minds,” he says.

“We each share a passion for the hotel industry and understand what hospitality can achieve when everyone is playing to their strengths.”

Alchin, the COO of Trilogy Hotels, sees each hotel as a significant asset in its own right that he believes will benefit from independent hotel management.

“Jerry is someone who can see the true potential of a property, and he’s not afraid to try new ways of exceeding the expectations of his guests,” says Alchin.

“From installing mini-train rides or ice-skating rinks to attract families, he has shown time and again that he is blazing a new path for hospitality in Australia. We’re excited and proud to be part of this journey with him.”

Through its founders, Trilogy Hotels has a wealth of experience in the hospitality sector with Boyes responsible for 85 hotels across NSW, ACT, Queensland and the Northern Territory during his time at Accor.

Over the past 35 years, Ryan has provided commercial and legal advice to the hotel industry globally. A specialist in transactions, he helped deliver Accor’s $1.2 billion takeover of Gold Coast-based Mantra Group in 2018.

Alchin built a reputation for consistently transforming underperforming hotels into profitable operations for Accor and IHG and more recently oversaw strategic asset management at one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups, CapitaLand.

The trio founded Trilogy Hotels last year on a mission to combine their hospitality experience to deliver hotel owners and hotel brands an alternative way to run their business, where all parties are playing to their strengths.