Accor looks to bring the bling back to Port Douglas

The Accor Fairmont in Port Douglas has been selected to manage the new $300 million luxury resort, Fairmont Port Douglas, by developer Chiodo.

Construction is set to begin early next year at the location that is nestled between the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Forest, both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The resort at 71-85 Port Douglas Road will be the newest hotel in Port Douglas for 20 years. 

The Fairmont Port Douglas will have 253 luxury rooms, with 136 basement car parking spaces, several restaurants and bars, business centre, conference facilities, day spa, swimming pools, gym, a treetop walk and panoramic wedding facilities, all of which are designed around resort-style pools and to blend with nature. 

The new Fairmont Port Douglas will be the first of its kind, in that it will be locally focused yet globally artistic, cultivating a celebration of the planet, sustainability and humanity. 

With a connection to nature being the core ethos, the resort is designed with butterfly nets above the children’s swimming pool and a lobby inspired by tropical gardens. 

Chiodo Principal, Paul Chiodo said there were 12 hotel submissions for this development but Accor was selected due to its shared vision for the site. 

“Our vision is to deliver an environmental hotel that still encapsulates the hallmarks of a luxury hotel and Accor clearly shares the same passion that we have at Chiodo Corporation for Port Douglas itself,” he said. 

“We both share a love for Port Douglas and its community, and we will jointly push hard to bring Port Douglas the bling factor that it had 15 years ago, where world leaders go to play golf and Hollywood celebrities go for vacations.”

The hotel’s strong environmental credentials made it a  winning contender for  the Communities & Culture Award at the Sustainable Destinations Awards in March 2020. To add to this, the Fairmont Port Douglas is also the first hotel to achieve Ecotourism Australia’s Eco Destination Certificate in the region.

Chief Operating Officer of Accor Pacific, Simon McGrath said he was certain that Fairmont Port Douglas would provide  a new level of luxury and elegance to "one of the country’s most glamourous resort towns”.

“Accor continues to expand its luxury offerings in Australia and, as our first Fairmont, this is going to be a truly special resort, whose architecture mimics the rich biosphere of the Daintree Rainforest and, which is centred on well-being, nature and cultural immersion," McGrath said.

Construction is set to commence in Q1 of 2021.

Irit Jackson, 10^th August 2020