No stopping Asia hotel growth
SINGAPORE: Singapore will see the opening of three new hotels in 2007, adding an additional 719 hotel rooms to the Lion City’s inventory.
Scheduled to open in November, the 199-room St. Regis Singapore will include a total of 15,000 square feet of meeting facilities.
The Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa is a US$39.2 million hilltop development in the centre of Sentosa, Singapore’s premier island resort. Due to open in late 2007, the new boutique resort, with 125 rooms, will be built with the conservation of two colonial-era buildings.
Also due to open in 2007 is The Boutique Hotel@Tiong Bahru which will feature 288 themed rooms. The hotel will be built in two renovated blocks of Singapore Improvement Trust flats while preserving the distinctive façade of the building.
In 2006, Singapore hotels recorded US$0.98 million in room revenue, an increase of 21.2 per cent over the same period in 2005. The Average Room Rate grew at 19.6 per cent over 2005 to reach an estimated US$106, while the Average Occupancy Rate was estimated to have reached 85 per cent in 2006, an increase of 1.4 per cent over 2005.
Over the next two years, about 1,000 rooms will be added to Singapore’s hotel room inventory each year. Another 4,300 new rooms will come on stream when the two Integrated Resorts are completed by early 2010.
In other hotel news, Guangzhou will see the opening of the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel in 2010, while Taipei’s new Mandarin will launch on Dun Hua North Road in the heart of the central financial district, also in 2010.
Hilton Hotels has signed to manage the Conrad Koh Samui Resort and Spa in Thailand. Scheduled to open in late 2008, the 25-acre property is built on a secluded hill comprising 79 villas and 39 Conrad Residential villas. It overlooks Aow Thai Beach at the south west tip of the island.
Dubai-based real estate investor, Emaar, plans to build a beach resort on the island of Lombok, next to Bali. Emaar is interested in developing a master-planned area twice the size of Bali’s Nusa Dua luxury hotel enclave.
Indonesia’s Culture and Tourism Minister, Jero Wacik, said the project is estimated to cost approximately US$222 million and would include several five-star hotels, golf courses and other tourism facilities.
Kingdom Hotel Investments have acquired a beach site for the development of a luxury resort and residences for sale in Da Nang, Vietnam, through a joint venture with European Hotels Corporation.
The proposed Raffles Da Nang is projected to open in 2011 and will include 150 hotel suites and 15 private residential villas for sale.
HPL Hotels & Resorts has announced its plans to open Malaysia’s first Hard Rock Hotel along Batu Ferringhi in Penang. Casuarina Beach Resort was closed in December 2006 to make way for extensive renovation and a complete makeover before reopening as the 255-room Hard Rock Hotel Penang in late 2008.
Ian Jarrett
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