Fair Go for the West: Australia's Iconic Entertainment Brand Amalgamated Holdings Limited Boosts Western Sydney's Profile with a $23 Million Investment

Championing development in Western Sydney, Amalgamated Holdings Limited (Events Cinemas, Rydges Hotels, QT Hotels & Resorts, Art Series Hotels and Thredbo Alpine Resort) have invested more than $23 million over the past two years with the launch of new design hotel Atura Blacktown and an extensive refurbishment of Sydney's iconic Blacktown Twin Drive In (now Skyline Drive In) Movie Theatre. Further investment in heritage-listed Royal Cricketer's Arms pub is slated for the coming months to ensure the 150-year-old local icon lasts for many more years to come.

Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) has had a long association with Western Sydney and operates three Rydges Hotel properties (Campbelltown, Bankstown and Parramatta) as well as several Event Cinema locations. A great boost for the Blacktown region economically, the launch of Atura Blacktown Hotel, re-launch of a new-look Skyline Drive In and investment in Royal Cricketer's Arms has resulted in close to 100 new jobs for locals.

High on value, design and personality, the Atura Hotel brief was to deliver spaces that rejuvenate, recharge and inspire guests. Sydney-based designer and stylist Nic Graham of award-winning QT Sydney fame has more than fulfilled this brief by delivering a hotel with an edgy, high-energy industrial look and feel. Such design, whilst more common-place in urban, city centres is a decidedly different approach to the standardised, mid-range hotel offering that has traditionally graced the Western Suburbs.

Beauty is more than skin-deep for this hotel brand; Atura Blacktown's urban, industrial and art-inspired presence is truly entrenched in the brand's DNA as the hotel has actively sought ways to foster the local community's visual and performance art scene including:

• Atura's weekly Open Mic sessions provide a platform for the regions emerging performance artists to be heard and take place each Saturday. Partnership with local music school Bam Bam means there is never a shortage of musicians seeking to perform.
• A partnership between the local Blacktown Arts Centre sees the launch of 'Atura Sketch Club' in the hotel lobby - the first time the art centre has held this outside the gallery. Increasing the connect between art and community, guests at the hotel will have the opportunity to observe art in action amidst the lobby space.
• Expanding AHL's links to city-based Sydney Film Festival, a partnership between Atura Blacktown & the Skyline Drive In has resulted in Sydney Film Festival including Western Sydney in their programme. A special 40th anniversary screening of Texas Chainsaw Massacre takes place at the Skyline Drive In on Friday 13 June with many of the festival's city-skewed audience expected to make the journey out West for the occasion.

Atura Blacktown has also experienced much high demand from the residential conference and events market. The number of reservations and conferences on the books now and out to the end of 2014 indicates significant appeal for the brand's high-energy design approach. Tech-savvy meeting and event spaces packed with complimentary extras organisers are used to paying more for such as free Wi-Fi, in-room movies and car parking have strong appeal form this market. This combined with ease of access from Sydney's main arterial routes has attracted business from a market that would usually look to larger centres such as Parramatta or the CBD further boosting the Blacktown region economically.

The hotel works closely with the many different attractions located nearby including Wet 'n' Wild, Featherdale Wildlife Park and Sydney Motor Sport Park Eastern Creek to further cement the region as a tourist destination.

Atura Hotels 

Urban. Industrial. Art Inspired. Atura Hotels are where modern business and leisure travelers escape the predictable to embrace a new style of travel. This fresh take on the mid-market travel experience fuses dynamic spaces, hip styling and the latest technology at surprisingly affordable prices ensuring guests feel connected and energised. Expect free wi fi and a host of other benefits each time you stay. Engagement with surrounding communities and active support of the local music & art scene are fundamental to the Atura brand philosophy. Over the next few years, Atura Hotels will be launched across Australia in select CBD locations, business park precincts and regional hubs – the first to open was Atura Blacktown in October 2013.

For more information visit - www.aturahotels.com.au