SINGAPORE’S hotel sector is clearly a growth area as its draws more investors. The development is expected to ease the current room crunch.
The latest addition in April to Singapore’s hospitality sector is the St. Regis Singapore at Tanglin Road which is the first luxury hotel to open in Singapore after more than a decade.
Featuring 299 guestrooms and suites, the St. Regis hotel is the epitome of luxury from its ballroom with its two large skylights to its art collection by
famous artists such as Fernando Botero, and French artist Marc Chagall. Another hallmark of the St. Regis is butler service that will be a first as the hotel offers it to every guest.
“The Singapore hotel market has not seen the entry of internationally branded luxury hotels over the last 11 years and St. Regis Singapore is the first significant opening in the city. Its strategic location at Tanglin Road, a stone’s throw from
Orchard Road, which is for Singapore what the Champs Elysees is for Paris, combined with the uncompromising, bespoke service of the St. Regis brand, will make this property an extremely attractive choice for the most discerning travelers,”
said Miguel Ko, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific.
St Regis opened with much fanfare, with 700 guests in attendance at its opening ceremony.
Opening this month is Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, a 320-room resort-style property, the first international upscale brand hotel with direct access to the new Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, is
linked to Terminal 3 by covered walkways. The US$60-million Crowne Plaza Changi Airport features open walkways and outdoor gardens to create a natural balmy tropical ambience. The guest wing is set amidst courtyards with rainforest gardens and a shaded pool, with open-air corridors
leading to guest rooms.
“Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is less of an airport hotel and more of an upscale, stylish, hotel in an extremely convenient location. We like to say it is ‘where the world meets Singapore’, and it is special in many respects,” said Mark Winterton,
general manager of Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.
Currently Singapore does not have any international hotels outside the city district, and with Crowne Plaza Changi Airport conveniently situated in the immediate vicinity of Singapore Changi Airport, it would be a much needed boon
to business and even leisure travellers. The hotel is within easy access to the Expo and Convention Centre.
“Through the joint efforts of the private sector and the Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore is currently enjoying a major boom in the travel sector. And with the opening of Terminal 3, we can expect tourist arrivals to increase, especially in
the MICE sector. The BTMICE industry is a key driver of tourism in Singapore and this is where Crowne Plaza Changi Airport can play a major role,” said Winterton.
Then set to open late 2008 is Capella Singapore. It is the brand’s first foray into South-east Asia. Capella Singapore will have 111 villas and suites (the largest in Singapore). Singapore’s first circular,
glass-roofed ballroom, among others.
“Capella’s first venture in South-east Asia, Capella Singapore offers guests an unparalleled setting on Sentosa Island,” said The West Paces Hotel Group president and CEO, Horst Schulze, of the property
which spreads over 30 acres of rolling hills. The architecture is characterised by “marriage of traditional and contemporary design elements”.
The next three to four years will see another 12,000 more hotel rooms come on stream as new hotels open in Singapore. In addition, in the first
half of this year, 12 more sites for hotel development have been made available for sale under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.
