Hilton has signed an agreement to bring its Motto lifestyle brand to Australia for the first time, with Motto by Hilton Sydney City Centre set to open in late 2027. The 152-room property will occupy the former Bank of China headquarters in Sydney’s CBD, developed in partnership with Invictus Developments.
The signing marks Motto’s seventh brand in Hilton’s Australian portfolio and its first lifestyle product in the country. It also represents the next stage of the brand’s Asia Pacific push, following its regional debut at Motto by Hilton Hong Kong Soho in late 2025.
A Conversion Play in a Prime Location
The project is a conversion rather than a new build – a model that has become central to Hilton’s global growth strategy. Conversions accounted for nearly 40% of the company’s openings in 2025, as owners seek established brand frameworks to enhance asset performance without the lead times of ground-up development.
For Invictus Developments, the deal represents what its principal, Chayadi Karim, described as “a strong testament to our proven conversion expertise.” The choice of the former Bank of China headquarters gives the project a distinctive address in one of Sydney’s most visited precincts, with proximity to the city’s restaurant and cultural corridor forming a core part of the brand’s positioning.
Hilton’s Director of Development Australasia, Tushar Raniga, noted the location was “strategically selected in the heart of Sydney’s vibrant food scene, placing guests amongst some of the city’s most iconic experiences.”
The Motto Format: Compact, Connected, Social
Motto by Hilton is built around the principle of maximising usable space without inflating room size. The 152-room Sydney property will offer a diverse mix of accommodation types: 96 standard rooms, 14 bunk rooms, 14 flex rooms, 8 accessible rooms and 20 suites. Notably, 56 rooms will be able to interconnect, catering to families and small groups – a configuration that distinguishes Motto from the conventional urban hotel format.
Communal spaces are a defining feature of the brand. The hotel’s lobby will function as a co-working and social hub, blurring the line between hotel guest and local resident. Dynamic food and beverage concepts, inventive mixology and a rooftop bar are also planned, consistent with the brand’s positioning around neighbourhood integration.
Hilton Senior Vice President of Brand Management for Asia Pacific, Tal Shefer, said the Sydney property exemplified the brand’s approach: “Rooms that are designed to flex, and common spaces that are social by nature.”
Lifestyle Brands as a Growth Engine
The Sydney signing sits within a considerably larger strategic context. Hilton’s lifestyle portfolio surpassed 1,000 hotels globally in 2025, with the company expecting more than 60 new lifestyle openings in 2026 alone. The group added nearly 800 hotels and 100,000 rooms to its overall portfolio last year, representing net unit growth of 6.7% – its highest-ever number of annual construction starts on an organic basis.
Motto itself operates 10 properties globally, with a further 23 in planning and development. The brand has a target to be present in 10 countries by 2026, having recently entered South America with its Cusco property and Asia with Hong Kong. The Sydney signing accelerates that trajectory into the Pacific.
For Australia specifically, Hilton’s ambition extends well beyond a single lifestyle brand. The group has separately confirmed plans to double its Brazil hotel portfolio by 2030, and is pursuing parallel expansion in the Asia Pacific region across multiple tiers – from Waldorf Astoria properties in Sydney and Kuala Lumpur to lifestyle brands like Motto. LXR Hotels and Resorts also made its Australian debut with a South-East Queensland signing in early 2026.
The Developer Proposition
The deal illustrates a broader dynamic that is reshaping hotel development across Australia and Asia Pacific: established international operators offering conversion pathways that allow property owners to unlock brand infrastructure without ground-up construction risk.
Invictus Developments’ decision to partner with Hilton on a lifestyle conversion, rather than a full-service or luxury product, reflects where investor and operator confidence in demand is converging – urban properties with high-connectivity locations, social programming and flexible room configurations that serve both leisure and business travellers.
Whether Motto by Hilton Sydney City Centre, when it opens in late 2027, will establish a model for further lifestyle conversions in Australia’s key cities will depend on its performance against the market. The indicators suggest the timing is well-calibrated.
