Independent hotel management company Trilogy Hotels has been appointed as operator of The Sands Torquay by Central Real Capital (CRC), effective 1 July 2026. The upper-upscale resort, located on Victoria’s iconic Surf Coast, comprises 112 suites and is home to a championship 18-hole golf course. The appointment marks Trilogy Hotels’ entry into the Surf Coast market and strengthens its growing portfolio of premium leisure and resort assets.

The Sands Torquay is located 90 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD and just 20 minutes from Geelong. The resort features 112 thoughtfully appointed suites, many offering striking views over the golf course and surrounding coastal landscape. The property has recently undergone a significant renovation program. The resort’s championship golf course is a par-72, with a strong membership base, moulded into the sand dunes and designed by Australia’s world-ranked professional golfer, Stuart Appleby.

“Our aim is to preserve, stabilise and enhance The Sands as an exceptional, high-quality, residential, hospitality and golf destination for the long-term. We look forward to working with Trilogy Hotels, an operator whose expertise, experience and commitment give us the confidence to see our vision come to life for resort guests and the surrounding community,” shared Tony Denny for Central Real Capital.

Trilogy Hotels currently oversees a portfolio and pipeline of 24 hotels and is an experienced operator of regional resorts and golf courses, including the iconic Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains – MGallery Collection, Leura Golf Club, and Comfort Resort Leura Gardens.

“We are honoured to have been appointed by CRC as operators of The Sands Torquay. Building on the resort’s natural strengths in golf, wellness, coastal leisure and business events, we are focused on unlocking the resort’s potential and delivering an enriched experience for guests and community,” shared Scott Boyes, CEO of Trilogy Hotels. 

Guests also have access to a fully equipped health club with a six-lane, 25-metre indoor heated pool, a gym with modern strength and cardio equipment, two tennis courts, and group fitness classes. Three distinct food and beverage venues, Spike Café, Bunkers and Shirley’s, serve hotel guests, golf members, and the broader Torquay community, complemented by a range of conference and event spaces accommodating up to 400 guests in theatre configuration.

Recognised as the Gateway to the Great Ocean Road, the resort is also located within easy reach of world-class natural attractions, including Bells Beach (host of the world’s longest-running pro-surfing competition), Point Danger Marine Sanctuary, and the pristine stretches of Whites Beach and Point Impossible Beach. For leisure travellers, the broader Surf Coast offers an unrivalled combination of beaches, coastal walking trails, surf experiences, a highly regarded culinary and lifestyle culture, along with the popular Surf City Retail Plaza. For business guests and conference delegates, Torquay’s accessibility from both Melbourne and Geelong positions the resort as a compelling alternative to metropolitan venues.

Back in February, Trilogy Hotels CEO Scott Boyes shared his insights with HM Magazine on the hotel landscape and the outlook for the year ahead.

Trilogy Hotels Operator Outlook

The past year has confirmed just how amazing and exciting the Australian hotel market has become, and Trilogy Hotels is excited to play our role in promoting change in our wonderful industry. As international travel returns in full force and domestic demand remains strong, owners, teams, and guests are all leaning into a new era of growth, opportunity, and possibility.​

Looking back at 2025

Across Australia, hotel performance strengthened again in 2025, with major cities recording solid gains in occupancy, rate and RevPAR on the back of significant events and a full calendar of leisure and corporate travel. For Trilogy Hotels, that backdrop supported a rapid ramp-up of our platform, with a growing portfolio of managed hotels now spanning over 15 hotels and more than 3,000 rooms across multiple global brands.

This scale has enabled us to demonstrate the value of an independent management model that is laser-focused on EBITDA, owner alignment, and on-the-ground agility. Owners are increasingly looking for partners who can move quickly, make local decisions, and still tap into the power of big brands via franchise – that is precisely the gap Trilogy Hotels was created to fill.​

Development hotspots and opportunities

On the back of a strong level of growing demand through broader Sydney,  Western Sydney has become one of the most compelling hotel investment stories in the country, and it is a core focus for Trilogy Hotels. With Western Sydney International Airport set to open in 2026 and major cultural and sporting infrastructure coming online, the region is poised to welcome millions of additional visitors, requiring thousands of new rooms over the coming years.​

Beyond Greater Sydney, markets such as Brisbane, Perth, and key leisure destinations continue to post strong trading, creating opportunities for conversions, repositioning plays, and new-build select-service hotels. The common theme is that owners seek flexible structures that protect returns in a higher-cost environment while still delivering an elevated and appropriate guest experience and value, as room rates continue to rise.​

Travel trends reshaping demand

Three trends are standing out across our portfolio.​

• Experience‑led travel is no longer niche; guests want local stories, thoughtful F&B and an authentic connection with place.​
• Bleisure is firmly established, driving longer lengths of stay and stronger demand for shoulder nights, particularly in gateway and event cities.​ Longevity v traditional wellness is also a theme playing out for leisure stays.
• Sustainability and value are at the forefront of travellers’ minds, with travellers rewarding hotels that are transparent about their environmental impact, service promise, and overall value proposition.​

These shifts play directly to the strengths of an agile manager who can tailor concepts and outcomes on an asset-by-asset basis. At Trilogy Hotels, we believe in and deliver individual focus, attention, and strategy, while leveraging global brand and distribution platforms to provide the best possible outcomes for owners, teams, and guests.

2026 challenges and how we’ll respond

Looking into 2026, there are some headwinds alongside the incredible optimism. Wage and compliance pressures remain elevated, new supply will be added into some markets faster than demand, and global economic uncertainty is likely to test both rate growth and financing conditions.

Trilogy Hotels’ answer is to double down on three things:

1) Smarter use of data to make practical and effective real-time decisions to optimise mix, price and value;

2) Disciplined cost management that protects guest experience; and

3) Deep investment in our people so that service levels remain a genuine point of difference.

By keeping decision-making close to the asset and empowering hotel leaders, we can respond more quickly than traditional models when market conditions shift.​

The changing management landscape

Australia is embracing third-party and white-label management, similar to that of North America and Europe, which have been doing so for years. Brands are increasingly comfortable separating franchise operations from day-to-day activities, and owners are seeing the benefits of having an independent advocate at the table who is wholly aligned with the owner’s outcomes.

This evolution is beneficial for the entire ecosystem: brands can expand their footprint, owners gain transparency and control, and talented hotel teams have clearer career pathways within high-performance operating platforms. Trilogy Hotels’ goal is to be the partner of choice in that space – measured not by how many flags we fly, but by the returns, culture and guest advocacy we help create.​

Outlook and what’s next

With international visitation forecasted to surpass pre-pandemic levels over the next two years, and with major infrastructure such as Western Sydney International coming online, the medium-term outlook for Australian hotels is exceptionally positive.

Trilogy Hotels will continue to build its footprint in Australia and other maturing markets. We will focus on the markets we have a desire to be in and explore appropriate international expansion. In all cases, we want to be where our model can genuinely scale with quality and add value to our stakeholders.​

Above all, our priority is to continue delivering for the three groups that matter most to us: our owners, our teams, and our guests. If 2025 was about proving the strength of our platform, 2026 will be about scaling that impact – hotel by hotel, market by market, with a relentless focus on partnership and performance.​

HM February 2026 Issue

Trilogy Hotels has appointed Benjamin Nesbitt as Director of Operations, commencing 1 July 2026.

Nesbitt brings more than two decades of hotel leadership experience to the role, including over 10 years in general manager and senior operational roles across branded, independent, serviced apartment, and large-scale precinct environments. His career includes time with Accor, Frasers Hospitality, Meriton Suites, SKYE Hotels & Suites, Stamford Hotels & Resorts, and IHG, giving him a broad and well-rounded understanding of the operating models and challenges facing hotel teams across the sector.

Most recently, Nesbitt served as Precinct General Manager at Accor’s Sydney Olympic Park Hotels, overseeing the Pullman, Novotel, and Ibis properties. In 2025, he was named Australian General Manager of the Year at the HM Awards, in recognition of his leadership, operational discipline, and commitment to delivering strong outcomes for teams, guests, and owners.

In his new role, Nesbitt will report to Grant Alchin, Chief Operating Officer at Trilogy Hotels. He will work closely with Trilogy Hotels’ general managers, owners and hotel leadership teams to provide operational support and strengthen hotel performance, serving as a key liaison with the Trilogy Hotels corporate office.

“We are delighted to welcome Ben to the team,” said Alchin. “At Trilogy Hotels, good people are at the centre of everything we do.  Our focus is always on building strong teams and backing our people to succeed, and Ben brings this same mindset. He will be a trusted partner to our owners, general managers and hotel teams, helping to sustain operational excellence across our growing portfolio.”

Trilogy Hotels has appointed Michael Tscherne as Director of Market Intelligence & Performance, commencing 22 June 2026.

In the role, Tscherne will work across the Trilogy Hotels portfolio to strengthen revenue performance, deepen market intelligence, and implement strategies that help hotels outperform their competitive sets. His focus will be on applying data, market insight, and revenue discipline, including AI-assisted analytics, to identify opportunities, sharpen decision-making, and drive superior commercial outcomes. Tscherne brings over 25 years of senior revenue leadership experience across hotels, serviced apartments, and lifestyle accommodation.

His career includes multiple General Manager and senior revenue roles with Accor, Group Director of Revenue & Distribution at Minor Hotels, and, most recently, Chief Revenue Officer at Drifter. Across these positions, he has led revenue, distribution, and commercial strategy for large, complex hotel networks, encompassing portfolio performance, refurbishment planning, feasibility studies, pre-opening activities, forecasting, business intelligence, and market recovery strategies.

“We are thrilled to welcome Michael to Trilogy Hotels. Good people are at the centre of everything we do,” said Scott Boyes, Chief Executive Officer at Trilogy Hotels. “Michael adds to our world-class team and further enhances the capability of our ecosystem to drive hotel performance.”

The Australasian Development Outlook

Scott Boyes, Chief Executive Officer, June 2026

Australasia’s hotel development landscape is being reshaped by an industry-wide shift in how hotels are branded, managed and powered by technology platforms. That shift is creating a very specific window for specialist third party operators like Trilogy Hotels. Across the region, we see three converging forces.

Firstly, the traditional full management model is giving way to brand franchising and flexible structures, as major brands drive their franchising platforms and owners seek stronger alignment between operating performance and investment returns. STR data indicates that for Australian hotels with more than 50 rooms, only a minority operate under traditional brand management agreements, with a rapidly growing share now franchised and the vast majority independent. This is a structural gap that white-label operators are beginning to fill.

Secondly, the maturity of cloud-based distribution, revenue, and property management platforms means owners can now separate “brand” from “operations”, combining global brand engines with local, focused, independent, data-driven management to unlock EBITDA.

Thirdly, capital is increasingly focused on execution: in a market where new supply, construction costs and financing conditions remain challenging, investors are seeking partners who can deliver growth and outperformance at the asset level.

For Trilogy Hotels, this is the moment for which we were built. As a pureplay independent management platform, we work with our brand partners and owners to curate an environment with the right brand, tech stack, and on-property leadership team for each asset, while remaining entirely focused on owner returns, growing careers, and guest experience.

We are seeing strong interest from city, urban, and regional owners who want big-brand demand engines without sacrificing local agility, whether that’s a major conversion like Courtyard by Marriott Darwin or bespoke strategies for investment-grade independents.

Over 2026 and 2027, we expect Australia’s under-penetrated third-party management segment to expand rapidly. This will be driven by more complex brand and deal structures, deeper adoption of integrated management platforms, and a clear premium for operators who can translate this complexity into sustainable EBITDA growth for owners, care for teams, and experiences for guests.

From the June 2026 issue of HM Magazine

22 May 2026

Trilogy Hotels has appointed Martina Sacchetti as its Learning Experience and Capability Lead, reinforcing the group’s commitment to building a people-focused culture across its growing portfolio of hotel teams.

With an expansive career across aviation and hospitality, Sacchetti joins Trilogy from senior leadership roles with Accor at Sofitel Sydney Wentworth and IHG at InterContinental Sydney Double Bay, following a significant tenure at Qantas in service design, customer journey and people leadership.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Trilogy at such a pivotal stage in its growth. The opportunity to help design and enhance Trilogy’s core digital learning and people development experience is incredibly exciting,” Martina said.

Sacchetti will also be focused on programs connecting performance, career pathways and leadership development, to be deployed across the group’s expanding portfolio.

“People are at the centre of everything we do. Martina brings an exceptional combination of premium hospitality experience and expertise in shaping how teams learn and grow. We look forward to working together on these important projects for our hotel teams,” shared Scott Boyes, CEO of Trilogy Hotels.

Read the story on Hotel Management

Hotel Management Magazine:

Hotel industry speakers said Australia’s next generation of leaders would need commercial discipline, adaptability and strong people skills as AI, constrained supply, mixed-use development and shifting guest expectations reshaped the sector.

The 2026 AHICE Future Leaders Forum was hosted by the respected Professor Simon Pawson, Associate Dean of the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School. Professor Pawson is a key figure in hospitality education and industry and is heavily involved with AHICE, frequently moderating panels, speaking on industry trends, and welcoming the next generation of leaders.

The Future Leaders Forum 2026 examined career pathways, leadership resilience, hotel development, operations, technology and the importance of building industry networks. The discussion was framed by the hotel school’s role in developing talent, with Pawson noting that industry input remained essential to producing graduates of value. The school’s evolution from its 1991 origins to campuses in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide was used to underline the sector’s growing need for executive education, applied management training and research-led industry partnership.

The first panel, hosted by Tristan Cooper of Marriott International, explored careers in hotel property and development. Speakers from Colliers, CBRE, JLL, Accor and Trilogy Hotels said many had entered hotels indirectly, often through broader property, valuations, law or operations roles. Sam Abel from Colliers described hotels as “a sub-sector almost in its own little area of property”, while Taylor Morris rom CBRE said she knew quickly that hotels were where she wanted to stay because it was “such a dynamic sector” and “such a beautiful asset class”. Chris Boyd from JLL brought an operations-led background, saying every job he had held had been “somewhat related to hotels.”

A recurring theme was the variety of hotel work. Josie Hungerford from Trilogy Hotels said her first major multi-hotel deal showed her that “no deal has been structured the same and every deal has been different”. The panel agreed that hotels demanded both technical knowledge and human skills. Valuations were identified as a strong foundation for understanding KPIs, value drivers and investor expectations. Hungerford said her legal background had been useful, not only for knowledge, but for “conflict resolution, negotiation, communication”, and relationship building.

Looking ahead, the panel identified AI, constrained supply, mixed-use development and branded residences as defining issues. Chris Boyd said AI would affect “every realm within our industry, from ops to brokerage”, while Taylor Morris from CBRE argued that rising construction and labour costs would restrict new supply and support occupancy, rates and existing asset values. Mixed-use projects were seen as a practical response, with hotels increasingly positioned within broader “living” and destination precincts.

A leadership discussion with 1834 Hotels Executive Chairman, Andrew Bullock, interviewed by Serene Capital Strategy and Investor Relations Manager Amelia Perez and CBRE Asia Pacific Senior Negotiator – Capital Markets, Hotels, Nick Hill, focused on managing uncertainty. Andrew compared the GFC and COVID, noting that each presented distinct challenges but that both reinforced the importance of resilience and balance sheet strength. His key advice was that “there is always a way through”, and he told younger leaders to “keep going, keep the line, keep your head up and just try and make good decisions every single day”. On AI, Andrew compared its impact to the adoption of the internet, saying its efficiency gains were already evident in tasks such as food and beverage displacement analysis. He said AI literacy would become “one of those absolute key skills” for future leaders.

The final panel, led by Scott Barton of EVT, looked at operations and career pathways. Nick Lockyer from Accor said hotels had allowed him to turn “pulling beers into a career,” and later move from operations to development. Jessica James, GM of QT Canberra, contrasted this with a more deliberate path, saying she had known from age 15 that she wanted a hotel career and had become a GM at 24 after taking regional and international opportunities. James Clark of Ovolo Hotels stressed empowerment, describing an internal “Shark Tank” concept where staff at all levels contributed ideas, including a rooftop beehive that produced 45 kilograms of honey.

The closing YHL (Young Hotel Leaders) update reinforced networking as a career accelerator. Speakers from Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide described YHL as a practical network for young hotel leaders across operations, valuation, legal, construction and investment disciplines. Its expansion to Adelaide was presented as further evidence of a sector investing in its next generation.

All panelists and hosts agreed that future leaders needed resilience, curiosity and confidence with technology, while the industry had to keep investing in talent, mentoring and networks that helped emerging professionals build meaningful, long-term careers.

Source: Hotel Management Magazine