CX Media Kit
| RESORT SELF DESTRUCTS AND GIGS GO |
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| Written by Julius Grafton | |
| Saturday, 20 June 2009 | |
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Fairmont Resort is a five star, 250 room property perched in a
beautiful location above a scenic gorge in the Blue Mountains west of
Sydney. For many years it has been a highly desired convention
destination where the who’s who of Australian big business ran great
events.
It has a ballroom and conference facilities suitable for medium scaled events. Until now. It’s a strange story: Peppers managed the resort until after it was sold to an organization that rebranded the property as York Fairmont. When Peppers management ended, there was a devastating mass of staff cuts and confusion under the new regime. CX understands the events industry has shunned the property even before reports of a customer rebellion over Easter, when the Sydney Morning Herald says 200 angry guests petitioned the hotel for refunds. Since then a litany of stories have emerged from the property, relating to lack of staff, cleanliness and even guest safety after it is alleged reception phones were diverted and an ambulance could not be called for a sick guest. The venue is sorely missed by production suppliers and freelance crew who supplemented one of the few independent in-house audio visual teams, that had a very solid reputation. The exodus of experience from the resort has upset the local community, where local media has been in a frenzy reporting each new disaster. York is owned by a mysterious firm with confusing multiple associate entities, some containing the name Brighton. It is reported that the organisation is run by Michael Kwok and Helen James who are thought to be a married couple. They bought the property from Mirvac group for $47 million in December 2007. No one understands their strategy, which appears to be wealth reduction. * From CX Magazine, July 15 issue. |
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