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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