It is 35 years since Quest Apartment Hotels’ founder Paul Constantinou opened the first Quest accommodation space in Fitzroy, Melbourne. The serviced apartment chain is now part of Ascott Limited and has more than 160 properties in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and the UK.
The first Quest was a 55 key red brick property that opened in 1988 in the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. The 83 key Quest Collingwood which opened in early 2023 is just 15 minutes from the original site and in a nod to the inaugural site, incorporates red brick into the façade.
Quest will open a further six properties by June 2025. It has 159 hotels and 13 additional properties in development.
Quest Hotels’ people and culture key to 35-year business
Managing director at Ascott Australia, David Mansfield, said people and culture have been key to the brand’s success.
‘The local knowledge and inherent intuition of Quest local business owners means they continue to provide the safe pair of hands and elevated service our guests expect. That hasn’t changed in 35 years,” he said.
“We continue to evolve our brand in line with changing guest expectations without losing sight of who we are — Quest is a network of local business owners and teams who go the extra mile for our guests.”
Andrew Clarke is a long term multi-unit franchisee with the accommodation chain.
“My wife Angela and I were granted the franchise for Quest West End in 2004 and Quest on Rheola in 2005.
“We’ve stayed with the brand because we believe in it. Faces, preferences and designs may change but the brand’s core promise remains. Quest’s guiding purpose is to make corporate stay effortless through the provision of spacious serviced apartments. While the model changes, we’ve never strayed from that,” he said.
“Quest has continued evolving to ensure we have a proven business model that gives us everything we need to build our own successful small business, which we then tailor to suit our respective local market conditions.”
The hotel chain was the first to receive a 5-star ranking with the Australian Franchise Rating Scale.
Environmental, social and governance strategies key to network
The accommodation chain is focused on incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies across the network.
Its community support umbrella, Quest for a Cause, includes hundreds of neighbourhood charitable initiatives supported by local Quest teams.
In 2023, Quest is accelerating its ESG activity through purpose led partnerships. The business partnered with Sony Foundation’s You Can Stay program in 2020. Since then Quest has provided more than 13,000 room nights at no cost to families of regionally based youth with complex cancers who require ongoing treatment in capital city hospitals.
This year Quest is also working to address Australia’s housing affordability and rental crisis. It has signed a partnership with the Housing All Australians charity.
- The Ascott Limited is a Singapore company with a portfolio in more than 200 cities across over 30 countrie. Ascott has more than 71,000 operating units and more than 56,000 units under development.
Pictured: Back row: Bianca Tachdjian Quest Ivanhoe, Cat Mapperson Quest St Kilda Rd & Quest on Dorcas, Teresa Arcuri Quest Moonee Valley, Gazal Kamali Quest Watergardens, Natalie Bui Quest Caroline Springs, Amy van de Ven Quest Orange, David Mansfield, managing director Quest Apartment Hotels.
Front Row: Stephanie Robertson Quest Collingwood, Sophie Sun Quest Griffith and Liz Galea Quest Preston.
