The Mantra Hotel Group has entered an agreement to snag the sexy Art Series Hotel Group.

Mantra struck a deal with the Deague Group to purchase the Australian-owned Art Series properties for a cool $52.5 million.

The acquisition lands Mantra with seven luxury hotels, contrasting with the laidback contemporary vibes of Mantra properties, and will leave them boasting more than 1000 extra guest rooms and a number of conference and event facilities, restaurants and plush hotel-style amenities.

Mantra currently has 128 properties and more than 21,500 rooms in Australia, NZ, Indonesia and Hawaii.

In case you’re unfamiliar, the seven hotels are:

• The Cullen, Prahran, Melbourne VIC
• The Larwill Studio, North Melbourne VIC
• The Olsen, South Yarra, Melbourne VIC
• The Blackman, St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC
• The Chen, Box Hill, Melbourne VIC (which is currently in the final stages of construction and is set to open in November 2017)
• The Johnson, Spring Hill, Brisbane QLD
• The Watson, Walkerville, Adelaide SA

The Art Series group are the ones who recently launched the ‘nudie sleepover’, which involved a ‘No Robe package’ that asked guests to strip down for a team of artists to capture their image in art form.

Art Series Hotel Group CEO William Deague, said the package matched with the Group’s overall objectives of “delivering unique art inspired experiences for our guests and welcoming them with their creativity”.

Each hotel in the Art Series Group is inspired and dedicated to Australian contemporary artists, infusing the namesake artist’s works and personality throughout the hotel to create unique art-inspired experiences.

The brand has a strong rep and unique selling point in the hotel market, and as a result, Mantra will continue operating each of the hotels under the Art Series brand.

The lobby at The Larwill, North Melbourne

These boutique properties are well suited to both leisure and corporate travellers and are located in some of Australia’s hottest art and cultural hubs, and add to the Mantra properties already present in most of the locations.

Mantra Group Chief Executive Officer Bob East said the deal represents a sizeable addition to Mantra Group’s already expansive Australian portfolio.

“This acquisition enhances our existing portfolio and presents a unique opportunity for Mantra Group to increase its footprint across three key locations (Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide) in a single transaction,” said East.

“This is a rare opportunity to acquire a collection of exceptional hotels and one which is expected to make a significant contribution to Mantra Group’s business.

“These hotels have been operated to the highest standards by a passionate and dedicated team, and we are delighted to welcome such iconic and favoured properties to our growing network of hotels and resorts.

“We look forward to working with the owners, team members and guests to ensure a smooth transition.”

Settlement of the ‘Art Series Acquisition’ is expected to be completed in late 2017, subject to closing conditions customary for an acquisition of this nature.

Meanwhile, Event Hospitality and Entertainment Limited will no longer have a marketing and distribution agreement with Art Series Hotels from November, 2017 with Event focusing on the continued growth and development of its leading designer hotel brand, QT Hotels and Resorts.

“We have enjoyed a great relationship with Deague Group assisting them with marketing and distribution support,” said Norman Arundel, General Manager Rydges Hotels & Resorts and oversees all managed properties for the Event.

“We are extremely pleased with the success of our designer hotel brand QT Hotels & Resorts and we will continue to focus on developing it both here in Australia and internationally.”

Event has managed the Art Series Hotel Group on behalf of Deague Group since the opening of the first Art Series hotel, the Cullen in Prahran, in 2009.

Will Deague, CEO Deague Group said, “Event has played an integral role in the success of the Art Series Group.  We hold them in very high regard and thank them for their efforts over the years.”

The QT Hotels & Resorts group will continue to expand with QT Queenstown due to open this November, followed by QT Perth in 2018.

All Priority Guest Reward (PGR) members will continue to enjoy their benefits at all Art Series hotels until November, 2017 and all PGR forward bookings will be honoured.