Ibis, resilient and growing

By Yeoh Siew Hoon

Even as it declared the first ibis opened in Singapore, Accor Asia Pacific announced the second ibis to be built in the city.

And if chairman and chief operating officer, Michael Issenberg, had his way, he would have half a dozen ibis-es in Singapore over time.

For in these difficult economic times, it is this economy hotel brand of the Accor group that’s holding up.

Asked how the ibis was performing relative to its more upmarket brethen like Sofitel and Novotel, Issenberg said that there was no question customers were trading down.

“One of the areas that has been hit most is the meetings sector and because ibis does not have a lot of business in that segment, it hasn’t felt the impact like the higher end has.”

Accor has also announced its 2008 results in which it reported a 875 million Euro profit. “It reinforces our resilience to market conditions because of our strong position in the economy segment,” said Issenberg.

By 2010, Accor will have 1,100 ibis worldwide, of which 40 pecent will be in Asia Pacific.

Issenberg called the ibis Bencoolen a “product for the time”.

It cannot be denied that in the current market conditions, a product like ibis is perfectly timed, especially when it is the first internationally branded economy hotel in Singapore.

General manager Puneet Dhawan said ibis “will make economy fashionable again” although one could argue that it’s the economy that’s made economy fashionable.

The ibis Singapore on Bencoolen, developed by LaSalle Investment Management, is the largest ibis outside Europe with 538 rooms and was built at a cost of S$145 million. It was constructed in record time, a feat Issenberg is proud of.

The site was acquired 26 months ago and the hotel was finished two months ahead of schedule. It opened on February 26, a month after the building was handed over to Accor by the developers. “That’s a record,” said Issenberg.

According to Ian Mackie, chief investment officer of LaSalle Investment Management, the company has $50 billion worth of real estate, $10 billion of which are in Asia Pacific and of which $1 billion is in Singapore.

The ibis Singapore is backed by a fund comprising 52 investors from 17 countries. LaSalle also has investments in Swissotel Merchant Court and Crowne Plaza.

The second ibis, the ibis Singapore Novena, will be located on Balestier Road. Developed and owned by Cockpit International, it will have 241 rooms and will open 2011. Cockpit International became associated with the ibis brand when it acquired ibis London Earl’s Court.

The first ibis, meanwhile, is off to a flying start in Singapore. Since soft opening early February, it’s been running full and on February 25, Dhawan said, “We sold 295 out of 300 rooms.”

It’s kept its rate structure simple – S$148 walk-in and S$138 on the Internet. It launched a “pay what you want” promotion online which yielded a list of 10,000 registered members from 100 countries. Bids came in from $1 to $100 and the two-week promotion helped fill 20-30 rooms a day.

“We didn’t expect that it would take off the way it did,” said Dhawan.

You can tell ibis is trying to do things differently. Its restaurant, TASTE, which is a global ibis concept, features a menu designed by Singapore’s food guru, KF Seetoh, and offers 20 of Singapore’s most popular dishes.

It also offers the ibis global “15-minutes satisfaction” guarantee. “If a guest reports a problem which is the hotel’s responsibility, the teams are committed to finding a solution within 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, every day of the week. If a reasonable solution is not found, the client stay on the night is complimentary,” said Dhawan.

I do wonder though how much Accor pays out a year in these refunds and how many customers actually collect.

For the answer, watch this space.

Catch Yeoh Siew Hoon at the Transit Café –
http://thetransitcafe.com/