INFLUENCERS LIVE IT UP AT CASINO-LESS CROWN SYDNEY
With the casino offering at Crown Sydney remaining closed for now, celebrities and instafamous influencers have been lining up for snaps at Crown Sydney, the city’s only 6-star hotel and precinct.
Comedian Andy Lee, racing heiress Kate Waterhouse and Instagram model Lily Maymac are among those who have been featuring the hotel’s restaurants and rooftop pools on their social media profiles. Celebrities have been fawning over the company’s sparkling new Sydney skyscraper in an apparent marketing blitz.
One Instagram post by reality TV star Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards, carried the hashtag “#sponsored” and showed the couple canoodling in their lux room.
The restaurants, bars and hotel — where the cheapest room available this Saturday night is $1,199 — opened in December, while the casino licence was pending.
While the pandemic stopped the casinos VIP high-roller model, creative agent Sam Kelly, also a member on the Australian Influencer Marketing Council, said the initial launch of Crown Sydney across social media in the midst of a crisis had been successful, so far.
“I’m not privy to their strategy but looking from the outside these sorts of talent posts are the only form of marketing I’ve seen out of the venue,” he said.
“I think it has been quite subtle in its approach, but I think it has been quite effective. Maybe the days of seeing billboards and television commercials are a thing of the past?”
It is to be seen, however, if the casino operator can keep up the momentum.
“Any sort of short form burst of advertising or PR has a halo effect and a moment — whether it’s a television commercial or an influencer in your feed, you have a short-term spark,” he said.
“It’s really effective in driving brand awareness but then that does wear off.”
The hotel has a luxurious spa set over 2000m2, Crown Spa Sydney features “relaxation rooms, vitality pools, experience showers, infra-red saunas” as well as terrace areas for yoga.
A suite of upscale eateries and bars which include celebrity favourite Nobu, an upscale Japanese restaurant chain owned by Robert De Niro are all open for business.
Other places in the Crown complex include Chinese restaurant Silks, Japanese eatery Yoshii’s Omakase, lounge bar Teahouse, noodle house 88 Noodle and upscale lobby bar TWR.
There’s also Epicurean, a restaurant featuring nine “live kitchens” where patrons can watch their food being cooked, and a’Mare, which will offer traditional Italian food.
Rounding out the food offerings at Crown is Woodcut by chef couple Ross Lusted and Sunny Lusted. Focusing on cooking with wood, charcoal and steam using Australian produce, Woodcut features three open kitchens focused on each cooking method.
Crown Sydney are making the most of what they have for now, and if the instafamous influencers are right, it is the place to be seen in Sydney.
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