Quake-struck hotel steps up from Dirty 30 to premium brand

Tuesday, 12 August 2025

The curved hotel on Oxford Tce will reopen as the Sheraton Christchurch, the South Island’s first Marriott group hotel, featuring 240 rooms, new dining, and the city’s highest rooftop bar.

Originally Noahs and then Rydges, the distinctive curved hotel on Oxford Tce in central Christchurch will reopen under a new name in mid-2027.

The 14-storey building will become the Sheraton Christchurch, part of a premium brand in America’s Marriott hotel group.

It will be the first Sheraton, or any hotel in the Marriott group, for the South Island.

Auckland has a Four Points Sheraton, a brand targeted at business travellers, and a hotel under the group’s JW Marriott brand. Internationally there are 430 Sheraton hotels in over 70 countries.

An artist's impression of the redeveloped hotel on Oxford Tce, formerly Noahs and Rydges.

Formerly in the hands of Singapore investors, the Oxford Tce property’s owner, Emmons New Zealand Ltd, is now a consortium of NZ equity investors through Mainland Capital and Russell Property Group.

Mainland Capital director Ben Bridge said securing Marriott International as the hotel operator was a major milestone for the development.

He said having a world-class brand would help Christchurch as it emerges as a destination for both leisure and corporate travel. The hotel would deliver “exceptional” experiences for both guests and the public, he said.

The distinctive curved hotel on Oxford Tce, now under renovation, will reopen as the Sheraton Christchurch in mid 2027.

The hotel is being repaired and renovated at a cost of $150 million.

The building was damaged in the earthquakes and has remained closed since. Two other buildings on the site, a parking and retail building and the Grant Thornton office tower, were previously demolished, as was the hotel podium.

An illustration of the finished Sheraton Christchurch hotel.

Emmons settled details of its $190m claim for the three buildings in an out-of-court settlement in 2022, after a 12-year battle with insurers that went as high as the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the hotel featured on Christchurch City Council’s “Dirty 30” list of sites considered barriers to the city’s rebuild.

Work is under way on the hotel in preparation for its 2027 reopening.

The reopened Sheraton Christchurch will have 240 guest rooms and suites, up from 210 before the earthquakes.

Additions will include an extension on the eastern side, a new double-storey street frontage facing the river, and a canopy extending over Worcester St shielding a new forecourt. There will also be an arrival and departure lobby with a glazed revolving door.

The ground floor will include a restaurant and bar, with a raised terrace on Oxford Tce used for outdoor dining.

Function rooms and a guest lounge will be on the first floor.

The top level will include the city’s highest rooftop bar, with an outdoor terrace facing north. A presidential suite will also be on this level.

Richard Crawford, Marriott International’s vice president of hotel development for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, said the hotel would play a key role in the revitalisation of Christchurch’s business district.

“As the South Island’s primary tourism gateway and the departure point to Antarctica, the city is ready for more globally recognised accommodation, and Sheraton Christchurch will deliver that,” Crawford said.

The hotel opened as Noahs hotel in the 1970s, and was rebranded as Rydges in the 1990s.