MILLENNIUM & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) has added a new brand to its portfolio, Studio M, with the first hotel slated to open in Singapore in the second quarter of 2010.
Located at 3 Nanson Road in the Robertson Quay area, the 365-room Studio M hotel will fuse style and functionality by offering integrated technology and wireless connectivity, as well as other features such as an open-air tropical deck.
The project will cost $120 million, of which the land cost was $53 million. Construction is under way.
‘The concept of smart business travel is evolving rapidly. There is increasing demand from this largely untapped market segment that craves a distinctive experience, even as they demand functional services like wireless connectivity. Studio M aims to fill this gap,’ said M&C chairman Kwek Leng Beng. M&C is a subsidiary of City Developments Ltd.
And when Studio M is launched next year, Mr Kwek – who is also executive chairman of M&C’s parent company Hong Leong Group – reckoned that it will benefit from the two integrated resorts.
‘When they open, they will bring in new types of customers. You’re not taking away existing customers,’ he said.
The next stop for the Studio M brand is likely to be the Middle East. M&C is also looking at China, India and Vietnam. ‘We plan to take this new brand global,’ said Mr Kwek. ‘The question is always which will give me more stabilised earnings?’
M&C’s financial results for the nine months ended Sept 30 showed that revenue per available room (RevPAR) for its Singapore hotels fell 35.5 per cent year on year to £pounds;57.60 (S$133.32), on the back of a 9.2 percentage point drop in occupancy to 74.8 per cent. Room rates for 9M 2009 were 27.6 per cent lower at £pounds;77.
However, the decline in RevPAR has started to slow, as seen from a 31.2 per cent drop in Q3 2009, versus 44.5 per cent in Q2. Occupancy increased 0.7 percentage point for Q3. But room rates are still under pressure, declining 31.7 per cent in Q3.
‘As occupancy demands start to increase, this decline in rate will start to be addressed,’ M&C said in its interim statement.
Listed in London, M&C has more than 120 hotels worldwide under several brands.
Source: Business Times, 12 Nov 2009
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