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Sentosa IR hotels open on Jan 20

Posted by luxuryasiahome on January 6, 2010

RESORTS World Sentosa (RWS) announced yesterday that it will throw open its doors on Jan 20, but those who want to visit the Universal Studios Singapore Theme Park or roll the dice at its casino will have to wait a little longer.

Announcing the highly anticipated opening date yesterday, RWS said that when Jan 20 rolls around, four of its six hotels and 10 restaurants and lounges will begin operations.

The four hotels are the Festive Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Crockfords Tower and Hotel Michael. The restaurants and lounges include modern patisserie Boulangerie on the second level of Festive Hotel and Indian restaurant Rang Mahal on the second level of the Hard Rock Hotel.

The IR’s theme park, FestiveWalk – a 500-metre stretch featuring retail outlets, restaurants helmed by celebrity chefs and clubs – and theatre are slated to open within the next two months, RWS spokesman Robin Goh said yesterday.

He said the testing of rides has already begun, and added that the theatre is ready for use – it staged its first event, the ChildAid charity concert, late last month.

No firm date was given for when the casino will open, but it is likely to be in the first quarter of the year, according to Mr Goh, who said an application has already been made to Singapore authorities.

The other attractions at the $6.59 billion, 49ha resort, including an oceanarium touted as the world’s largest, a marine museum and the two other hotels, will open much later: Construction is expected to begin only early this year.

The announcement has puzzled some analysts, who wonder why the IR is opening its hotels before most of its attractions are ready.

Mr Colin Tan, director of research and consultancy at real estate consultancy Chesterton Suntec International, called RWS’ move strange. ‘It is unlikely that visitors would make a trip to Sentosa to stay in a half-complete resort,’ he said.

When contacted, however, RWS said it was confident of drawing visitors come Jan 20. ‘There is a lot of anticipation for the resort and people are excited to be the first to experience it. We are, after all, Singapore’s first integrated resort,’ said Mr Goh.

Analysts, however, remain sceptical.

CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said that being the first IR to open gives RWS bragging rights, but little else. ‘You may have a few people who want a preview of what is on offer. But it is more important that everything else opens soon,’ he said.

RWS has said from the time it won the right to open an IR here in 2006 that its targeted opening date was early this year.

At the preview for RWS staff yesterday, the chairman of the Genting Group and Resorts World Sentosa Lim Kok Thay reiterated this. He said: ‘We have been single-minded about this – no distractions or excuses – and today, we are happy to say we marked the first milestone towards delivering on that promise.’

Singapore’s other IR, Marina Bay Sands, is slated to open in mid-April, after several delays. Parent company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) said in 2006 that it would open by the end of 2009. But in July last year, the date was pushed back to end-March this year.

Just last month, LVS chairman Sheldon Adelson further delayed the opening till mid-April, saying that it was not going to open ‘until the time is right’.

Source : Straits Times – 6 Jan 2010

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Resorts World Sentosa to open on Jan 20

Posted by luxuryasiahome on January 5, 2010

One of Singapore’s integrated resorts, Resorts World Sentosa, will begin opening its doors in phases from January 20.

The resort said its four hotels – Crockfords Tower, Hotel Michael, Festive Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel Singapore – will be opened on that day.

Resorts World Sentosa began operations at two of its four hotels on Tuesday, and employees and their families were the resort’s main guests before the hotels’ public opening.

Resorts World Sentosa’s chief executive, Tan Hee Teck, said the phased schedule would allow the resort and its 10,000 employees to run in operations and deliver the expected guest experience.

The integrated resort (IR) said it is working closely with the authorities to obtain approvals for Universal Studios Singapore, which will open next.

As for the casino’s opening date, it will be announced when the IR gets notice of its casino licence.

Together, the four hotels offer a combined inventory of 1,350 rooms and 10 restaurant outlets at their opening.

Another two hotels at the resort – Equarius Hotel and Spa Villas – will add another 500 rooms when they are launched in phase two after this year.

The IR will also open the world’s largest Marine Life Park and its Maritime Experiential Museum in the second phase.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 5 Jan 2010

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S’pore hospitality sector seen recovering in 2010

Posted by luxuryasiahome on January 5, 2010

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels chairman Kwek Leng Beng is optimistic Singapore’s hospitality industry will recover this year.

He is seeing improved occupancy rates at his Singapore hotels and expects average room rates to recover soon, he told BT.

And with the opening of the two casino resorts, the local hospitality sector will be transformed, he believes.

The resorts will attract new and different types of visitors and the number of leisure and MICE arrivals is expected to increase, he said.

Many of these people will extend their stay to take in other attractions, so the hotel industry as a whole will benefit.

Mr Kwek, who was speaking during the New Year weekend, also believes all hotels that have been operating for more than two years should be making profits because of their low ‘cost-base’.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels owns or manages more than 120 hotels worldwide.

Source : Business Times – 5 Jan 2010

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Hotel rooms galore this year

Posted by luxuryasiahome on January 3, 2010

Well-heeled as well as budget travellers will be spoilt for room options when they visit Singapore this year.

Big players like Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World Sentosa and The Fullerton Heritage are rolling out top-end hotels.

Together, they alone will inject more than 4,000 rooms to the existing 44,000 in all classes of hotels.

But the majority of Singapore’s visitors – the biggest numbers being from China, Indonesia and Malaysia – will not be left out in the cold either, with more new mid-tier and budget hotels opening.

Tourism is expected to bounce back this year after the industry was hit by the global slump last year.

November’s visitor tally was up 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, to reach 830,000.

Singapore had targeted nine million to 9.5 million visitors for last year.

Given the new supply of rooms, industry players do not expect a repeat of the severe room crunch that plagued the previous tourism peak in 2008. Then, many tour groups had to be diverted to hotels in Geylang and even chalets in the east.

‘Those days, the numbers kept increasing but room numbers were stagnant. This round, we’re seeing new properties,’ said Mr Robert Khoo, chief executive of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore.

He noted that while affordable hotels have opened, they cannot match the boost in rooms from five-star hotels.

‘Singapore is land-scarce. A hotel developer, if given a choice, will definitely want to develop a high-end property which will fetch higher and faster returns,’ he said.

One new five-star player is The Fullerton Bay Hotel. Slated to open in the second quarter, the 100-room hotel boasts a waterfront location and a grand entrance through the foyer of the historic Clifford Pier.

The substantial overall rise in room numbers means that rates will continue to be under pressure, said Ms Chua Chor Hoon, head of South-east Asia research for property consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

The average room rate for November last year was about $198.

The average hotel occupancy rate has been holding steady at around 70 per cent to 80 per cent. Last November, it hit 84.3 per cent, a 3.8 percentage point increase over November 2008.

During the 2008 peak, it was in the 80 per cent to 90 per cent range.

With competition in the top tier heating up, travel agents said some hotels in this segment have indicated that they will lower room rates by 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Ms Karen Tan, executive assistant manager for revenue and marketing at Swissotel The Stamford and Fairmont Singapore, said room rates ‘will be competitive’.

Said Marina Mandarin Singapore’s general manager, Mr Richard L. Dusome, of the competition from Marina Bay Sands: ‘We will keep a close watch on their pricing strategies to ensure we are competitive.’

The integrated resort’s three hotel towers will offer more than 2,500 rooms.

While most visitors are mid-range types, travel agents said the five-star hotels will have their following.

They include high-end travellers who are likely to turn their attention from Macau to Singapore when the integrated resorts open.

Singaporeans looking for ‘an alternative staycation’ are also expected to check into the integrated resorts, said Ms Jane Chang, assistant manager of marketing communications at Chan Brothers Travel.

Source : Sunday Times – 3 Jan 2010

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Hotels in the pipeline

Posted by luxuryasiahome on January 3, 2010

At least 10 mid-range hotels opened last year. They include the three-star French chain Ibis, which opened in Bencoolen, and Santa Grand in Bugis. More mid-range ones are coming onstream this year, such as Park Regis Singapore, Hotel Grand Chancellor and Santa Grand Hotel East Coast.

Movenpick Hotel will open in Sentosa and there will be a hospital-hotel complex, Connexion, in Farrer Park.

Next year, Ibis will open another hotel in Balestier, competing with at least four new ones, such as Aqueen Hotel Balestier and Value Hotel Nice, which have sprung up there.

Boutique hotels

Developers are zooming in on the boutique-hotel niche.

‘Travellers are becoming more sophisticated and discerning. So there is more demand for boutique hotels for those who want something different, and more personal,’ said Ms Chua Chor Hoon, head of South-east Asia research for property consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

Rider’s Lodge, Klapsons and Wangz are just a few that have recently opened.

This year, more will join the fray.

Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) Hotels’ new brand, Studio M, will open near Mohamed Sultan.

Singapore’s largest bar-chain operator Harry’s Holding plans to open its first boutique hotel in Ann Siang Road.

The right mix

The Singapore Tourism Board tries to keep the mix of hotels right by monitoring trends and sharing the data with the industry.

It also works with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on the sale of hotel sites.

URA recently announced that Ogilvy Centre, an 82-year-old conservation office building next to Lau Pa Sat hawker centre, will be sold this year as a hotel site.

There are another nine sites on the agency’s reserve list, and all 10 sites add up to a potential of 3,435 new hotel rooms.

Source : Sunday Times – 3 Jan 2010

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French hotels polish their stars

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 29, 2009

The new upgraded rating criteria will apply to 18,000 hotels across France

France, the world’s top tourism destination, is polishing up its hotel star ratings and introducing a new luxury five-star category to help travellers know what to expect.

The new rating criteria will apply to 18,000 hotels across France, many of which are showing off stars awarded under the previous ranking system that dates back to 1986.

The upgraded star system went into force at the weekend when details were published in the government gazette.

The most spectacular change is the new five-star category – already claimed by some 60 hotels such as the world-class Paris Ritz or the Hotel Negresco in Nice.

Industry leaders say the five-star category will help France face tough global competition at a time when the hotel business is struggling to recover from the global downturn.

‘The terms of reference were out of date,’ said Christine Pujol, president of the hotel owners’ main trade group Umih.

‘Customers did not know what to expect any more from a two-star hotel,’ added Genevieve Balher, president of the Synhorcat group representing the hospitality business.

A hotel ranked in 1986 may well have kept its stars without undergoing any renovation and there is no control over the ranking, she said.

Under the new criteria, stars will be attributed for a period of five years by accredited auditors instead of a government agency.

The prefect or state official for a department will however have the final word on granting stars.

The zero-star hotel is consigned to history under the new regulations, meaning that the lowest possible standard of comfort is now the one-star hotel.

A one-star room should be no smaller than nine square metres and have a shared bathroom with guests from no more than seven other rooms.

More stars means a bigger room and Internet access, for instance, is now a criteria for a three-star hotel.

‘Guests will know that the star ranking is a guarantee of cleanliness and furnishings that are in good condition,’ said Michele Le Poutre, who helped elaborate the new criteria.

But Mark Watkins, president of a committee pushing for more modern French hotels, said the new rating system was already out of sync with that of other international destinations.

‘En suite bathrooms are only compulsory for three-star hotels and you will have to go to a four-star to get international channels on television,’ he complained.

Mr Watkins said the new rating system would benefit mostly hotel chains and that independent owners will have a tougher time satisfying the criteria.

Industry officials estimate that up to 10 billion euros (S$20 billion) will be spent by hotel owners in the coming years for renovation work that will allow them to keep their stars.

France draws tens of millions of visitors each year to its tourist attractions, cultural sites and world-class restaurants, but the global downturn has hit the hotel sector hard.

Major chains like Accor, Europe’s biggest hotel group, have reported a plunge in sales as bookings slowed dramatically over the summer months with the loss of British and American tourists.

Under the new regulations, any hotel can choose to apply for the star rating, but there is a fee.

Source : Business Times – 29 Dec 2009

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Park Hotel Group ends year on high note

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 12, 2009

THE brief was simple. Stroll down Orchard Road’s pedestrian mall with a giant luggage trolley and two stilt walkers in tow for a high viewpoint. Look out for hapless shoppers with heavy festive loads and lend a helping hand.

And the offer proved too good to refuse. The three-metre luggage trolley soon became a refuge for tired legs as women and children hopped on. But the extra-heavy load did not deter Park Hotel’s staff from carrying on with their mission – to help shoppers and drive home the hotel’s new ‘larger-then-life’ service standards.

Park Hotel Group also held a Christmas charity auction last week in aid of Singapore’s Breast Cancer Foundation. Some 10 well-known local hunks entertained guests at the event, inviting bids. More than $30,000 was raised, with the highest bid of $2,700 going to actor Hansen Lee, for a lunch date and two economy air tickets sponsored by Qatar Airways to any destination on its network.

Park Hotel Group director Allen Law said: ‘We are ending the year on a high note. Our two hotels in Singapore have done very well, closing the year with occupancies in the high 80s.

‘The growth momentum is setting us on the right track as we prepare to unveil our flagship hotel – Grand Park Orchard – in May next year.’

Source : Business Times – 12 Dec 2009

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Hotel room rates start edging upward

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 12, 2009

Occupancy rates picking up as corporate travel improves; hoteliers expect leisure travel to rise with IRs’ opening

WITH hotel occupancies having clawed their way up to healthier levels this quarter and tourism starting to show signs of recovery, the hotel industry appears to be regaining lost ground.

Room rates, which also came under pressure this year thanks to a slump in travel demand, are also likely to start increasing gradually in line with the market, some hotels said.

According to Hong Leong Group subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) Hotels, its hotels pulled off a solid showing in the third quarter, with average occupancy rate (AOR) jumping to 86.1 per cent, up from 74.8 per cent in the first quarter and 75.5 per cent in the second quarter.

‘Occupancy for 4Q09 is expected to continue in this recovery trend,’ said a spokesperson for M&C, whose portfolio includes Orchard Hotel and the Grand Copthorne Waterfront.

For the Rendezvous Hotel, occupancy is at the 80 per cent mark currently, compared to 70 per cent in the early part of the year.

‘Average room rate has gone up by more than 10 per cent compared to the low rates experienced in July-August, which is a lull period for us,’ said its general manager Kellvin Ong.

Over at the Pan Pacific, booking trends have been picking up, compared to the first half of this year where occupancy rate was softer year-on-year.

Fourth-quarter figures are expected to be bolstered by Apec week in November which brought 10,000 dignitaries and members of the international media to Singapore. Food and beverage sales for the year-end festivities are also expected to prove better than last year in light of the recovering economy.

For luxury hotel St Regis – which played host to President Hu Jintao and the delegation from China during Apec week – fourth-quarter occupancy has grown by 14 percentage points year on year.

Corporate travel – which took a nosedive in the earlier part of this year as companies slashed travel budgets to contain costs – also seems to be picking up.

‘The last quarter of 2009 has been positive with an increase in corporate room bookings, which has helped to boost our average occupancy and rates,’ said Pan Pac’s public relations manager, Cheryl Ng. She also added that room rates are likely to grow marginally in 2010, while the occupancy level should also do so by at least five percentage points.

The Rendevous Hotel, which expects to gradually start revising its rates upward in line with the recovering industry, is also banking on the corporate demand to push up room rates.

Others, such as the Marriott, are upbeat that 2009 will end on a better note than it began.

‘Room occupancy has risen and the general business sentiment has lightened up,’ said Marriott’s marketing director Julie Yeong.

Meanwhile, M&C said that it will ’scale back’ on existing discounted packages, given that occupancy is treading above 80 per cent, but plans to introduce other higher value-added packages. M&C also expects next year’s revenue per available room (RevPar) to grow year-on-year as the recovery in the tourism sector picks up steam.

And with the much- talked-about Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) slated to open their doors next year, hoteliers expect to benefit from the new kids on the block, despite the hefty injection of industry supply. RWS alone adds some 1,800 rooms.

‘We expect the increase in hotel rooms will initially displace the equilibrium in the market. However, in the long-run, demand will grow,’ reckons Ms Ng.

For starters, visitors may prefer to be away from the crowds or require more affordable accomodation. Traditionally, hotels within theme parks tend to charge a premium compared to hotels in the surrounding area.

The presence of the integrated resorts could also boost weekend rates and occupancies.

‘Hotels currently tend to experience weaker occupancies and rates during the weekends. With the expected spike in leisure visitors to Singapore over the weekend, it may not be surprising to see hotels registering higher occupancies and possibly even higher rates,’ M&C’s spokesperson pointed out.

Source : Business Times – 12 Dec 2009

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Mandarin may buy more brands: CEO

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 9, 2009

He says Asia, South America may have the best openings

Mandarin Oriental International Ltd, operator of 25 luxury hotels from Tokyo to San Francisco, may buy more brands as lodging companies struggle amid a decline in spending, chief executive officer Edouard Ettedgui said.

‘We probably can reach 80-100 hotels on our own, but if we want to get to 200, we have to do that through brand acquisitions,’ Mr Ettedgui said in an interview at the opening of the 392-room Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas. ‘If a luxury brand becomes available at a reasonable price, we’re interested.’

Mandarin’s newest hotel enters a market where room rates have slumped because of the global recession and is part of a resort co-owned by MGM Mirage and Dubai World, the state company that’s in talks to restructure US$26 billion of debt. Mr Ettedgui said that Asia and South America may present the best opportunities and interested sellers have approached the hotel chain, which had US$563 million in cash as of June.

Hong Kong-based Mandarin, with properties in Asia, the Americas and Europe, is developing at least 16 hotels in cities including Beijing, Milan and Chicago.

Mandarin rose 1.6 per cent to US$1.27 at 12.10pm in Singapore trading yesterday. The stock has gained 30 per cent this year, trailing a 57 per cent increase for the Straits Times Index.

‘This is a crisis of solvency, but our balance sheet is strong,’ Mr Ettedgui said. ‘We have been approached’ by people looking for buyers, he said. ‘Definitely more so in recent months.’

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas – which includes 227 wholly owned luxury residences – is part of the CityCenter resort, 67 acres of hotels, condominiums, gaming halls and shopping malls co-owned by Dubai World and MGM Mirage.

Dubai World, the state-owned investment company, borrowed more than US$4 billion buying US trophy hotels, including the majority of Mandarin Oriental New York, at the top of the market, according to data from Real Capital Analytics Inc in New York.

Mandarin still operates the New York hotel and owns a 25 per cent stake.

‘I am not concerned about our hotel in New York or here in Las Vegas,’ said Mr Ettedgui. ‘Dubai and MGM have isolated this project and the level of debt is not abnormally high.’

Marriott, Starwood Mandarin Oriental has no plans to sell assets, the CEO said. The hotel operator’s net debt-to-equity ratio was 11 per cent as of June, compared with Marriott International Inc’s 257 per cent in September.

Marriott, the biggest US hotel chain, has gained 39 per cent this year in New York trading. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, the third-largest, has climbed 86 per cent.

Mandarin, which also competes with chains including the Four Seasons and Starwood’s St Regis brand, plans to attract more leisure travellers. Revenue generated by that group has already risen to as much as 60 per cent of the total from about one-third 10 years ago, the CEO said.

Mandarin Oriental wants to hold at least a majority ownership in the hotels it operates in key cities including Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as Paris, where it’s opening a property in 2011. The company is preparing to open hotels next year. ‘In key markets, you need sufficient control to be part of all decisions and to have 100 per cent control over your brand, at least in the first two to three years,’ said Mr Ettedgui, who has been in the job since 1998.

The Las Vegas hotel, which includes French chef Pierre Gagnaire’s first US restaurant, Twist, opens as casino resorts slash room prices and increase offers to lure visitors after companies cancelled conferences. Strip-gambling revenue is down about 12 per cent this year, after a record full-year drop of 11 per cent in 2008.

Loans of US$25.8 billion secured against more than 1,600 hotels in the US were added to Realpoint LLC’s watch list for performance-related issues as of the end of October. Many had either defaulted or were at risk of doing so, according to the credit-rating company.

Mr Ettedgui is relying on Las Vegas visitors looking for a luxury experience and said the company’s brand recognition in Asia may help attract customers. ‘Naturally, visitors from Hong Kong or Singapore would recognize our name,’ Mr Ettedgui said. ‘Las Vegas has changed its image so much, the international influx will increase more and more.’

Rates at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas hotel will average US$350-400 a night, about the same as the company’s hotels in Boston and Washington DC, Mr Ettedgui said.

The rooms, many of which look out onto the city’s surrounding mountains, are furnished with Asian decor, dark hardwood floors and oval bathtubs. Two floors are reserved for spa treatment rooms, some of which are suites with a view of the gambling strip below.

Mr Ettedgui said he doesn’t expect to raise rates in Las Vegas or anywhere else in the coming year and possibly the next. Occupancy is about 65 per cent across all hotels, he said. ‘Once you are back at maybe 70-75 per cent occupancy you can start thinking about increasing rates again,’ he said. ‘We may be able to raise rates again in 2011 but it’s optimistic to think that that may happen at the beginning of that year.’

Source : Business Times – 9 Dec 2009

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Starwood to open 15 more hotels in India

Posted by luxuryasiahome on December 8, 2009

Starwood Hotels & Resorts plans to add another 15 hotels in India by 2012 and the hotel operator’s chief executive said that untapped demand in the country could spell swift returns for the new properties.

Starwood on Sunday opened its 25th hotel in India, the Westin Pune Koregaon Park, which falls under the upper-upscale category of hotels. The No 8 hotel operator also operates Le Meridian and Four Points by Sheraton hotels in India.

Typically, hotels begin to deliver a return on their investments in their third or fourth year, but Starwood’s chief executive Frits van Paasschen said in an interview last Friday that he expects Indian hotels to fare better.

‘Because India is relatively underserved and business is so strong, these hotels will ramp up more quickly,’ Mr van Paasschen said, adding it could take only two years.

The majority of the costs associated with building the properties are borne by the developers, he added.

Hotel experts have been discussing India’s merits as an investment ground for years, but India (the world’s second biggest country with 1.2 billion people) remains underserved.

By contrast, Starwood has more than 500 hotels in North America.

‘The major thing for all non-Indian companies to focus on is how to compete with homegrown chains such as Taj, Oberoi and Welcomgroup,’ said FBR Capital Markets analyst Patrick Scholes.

‘For these companies to grow meaningfully, they will have to expand beyond the major three or four cities.’

Among the 15 hotels Starwood is expected to roll out are six Aloft-branded hotels, Mr van Paasschen said. Given the size of the market, Starwood is likely to exceed that target over the next 2-3 years, he said.

The new hotels will be in New Delhi, India’s capital, as well as Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Source : Business Times – 8 Dec 2009

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