Pub baron acquires Ramada hotel for $40 million

John Lewis and family are branching into the hotel accommodation sector.

The Lewis family are stalwarts of the Sydney pub scene having been involved since 1963.

The family is now expanding its interest, with the Sydney pub baron paying $40 million for the Ramada Hotel & Suites in Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west.

The Ramada is an 81-room hotel that sits on an 8000 square metre site and features a public bar, outdoor sports lounge, restaurant, conference facilities and gaming room.

The gaming room comes with 25 machines.

Lewis Hotels purchased the hotel from the Farhad family’s Z Hotels.

The Ramada, previously the Ibis Styles Sydney Lansvale, has been under the Farhad family’s ownership since 2012.

The hotel was rebranded as Ramada Hotel and Suites Sydney Cabramatta in 2018.

The rebrand was part of a franchise agreement between Wyndham and Z Hotels and marked the start of the Ramada’s mid-scale presence in Sydney.

“The Ramada represents the group’s first acquisition into an asset with such a substantial accommodation component and we hold a positive view of the outlook for well-located accommodation assets in the medium term,” Mr Lewis told The Australian Financial Review.

“We have underutilised accommodation components across our group at the moment and the Ramada affords us the opportunity to gain a further insight into the operating dynamics for these businesses, which we will look to export across our portfolio.”

John Musca, managing director of JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group managed the sale.

Within the Lewis Hotels empire are the Kings Cross nightspot the Vegas Hotel (purchased for about $32 million in 2015), the Royal Exchange Hotel in Marrickville and the Kogarah Tavern. All up, the family owns and operates nine hotels across Sydney.

Irit Jackson, 18th May 2021