Five-Star Luxury Leads to Diversified Windfall

When the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney’s CBD was opened in 1966, it became the city’s first five-star hotel.

It’s hard to believe that it’s taken almost 60 years since then for Penrith to get a five-star hotel of its own — and it’s all thanks to a registered club.

The Pullman Hotel Sydney Penrith, located at Panthers Penrith, is part of the club group’s new Western Sydney Conference Centre, which opened to the public in August.

The centre is the largest dedicated conference venue in Western Sydney, with more than 1250 square metres of flexible floor space that can host functions, gala dinners and meetings for up to 1000 people.

It’s accompanied by the 153-room Pullman Sydney Penrith, which features a sauna, premium restaurant and intimate wine and cocktail lounge, along with a relaxed café which Panthers believes serves some of the best coffee in Sydney.

“Pullman Sydney Penrith and the Western Sydney Conference Centre are part of the group’s strategic diversification plan that offers new opportunities outside of the established Club, football department and retail leases.”

There is state-of-the-art guest technology in the rooms, including 92 television channels and more than 1000 free movies on demand. Plus, a sleep therapy menu where guests can order everything from a range of speciality pillows to background noise machines, night lights, face masks and shower steamers.

It’s all part of the club group’s ever-expanding diversified offering, which already includes a theatre, aqua golf, 11 restaurants and six bars.

“It’s incredibly important to diversify our business in order to reduce risk and not be dependent on one or two key sources of income,” says Glen Erickson, General Manager of the Pullman Sydney Penrith and the Western Sydney Conference Centre.”

“The environment which we operate today is changing so quickly and nobody can predict what things will look like in five, 10 or 20 years.

“Pullman Sydney Penrith and the Western Sydney Conference Centre are part of the group’s strategic diversification plan that offers new opportunities outside of the established Club, football department and retail leases.”

The $125 million project was originally conceived in 2016, with planning starting the following year. After breaking ground in 2018 and building two levels of a basement car park, it was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The building from the ground up commenced again in April of last year, and just 15 months later was ready to be occupied.

Not only has the community benefited from having modern facilities in its own backyard, the local job creation has been substantial.

“Over 75 per cent of the workforce at Pullman Sydney Penrith and the Western Sydney Conference Centre live in Penrith and surrounding suburbs,” says Glen.

“With over 120 new jobs, this has been a great injection into the local economy. Employees who previously worked in the city can now work, dine and meet friends closer to home and therefore spend more in the local community.

“Additionally, we are already seeing that the large conferences coming to the Western Sydney Conference Centre are supporting surrounding businesses through more accommodation needs, demand for dining and activation of leisure facilities.”

For Panthers, its already paying dividends. It may only be early days of operations, but the conference facilities are almost fully booked until the end of November, with business sure to flow onto the accompanying hotel and the Club.

And there’s no doubt that the opportunities realised by the Panthers Group through their diversification model can be replicated at other clubs willing to think more strategically.

“There is a massive appetite for premium shopping, dining, experiential experiences, conference centres and hotels in the western suburbs,” says Glen.

“We just need to have the courage to identify that and deliver something new for this amazing part of the country.”