Tag Archives: Millennium & Copthorne Hotels

M&C to open Studio M hotel

Posted on 14 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on M&C to open Studio M hotel

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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Kwek launches ‘cool’ Studio M hotel brand

Posted on 14 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Kwek launches ‘cool’ Studio M hotel brand

He aims for 50 worldwide in five years, with first at Robertson Quay area

PROPERTY tycoon Kwek Leng Beng launched an ‘utterly cool’ hotel brand boasting a Singapore label yesterday. He aims to have at least 50 outlets across the world in five years.

The Studio M in Singapore brand is being unleashed through the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) chain with the first to open at 3, Nanson Road in the Robertson Quay area around April next year.

Singapore could eventually have three to five Studio Ms, which Mr Kwek describes as a ‘cross-breed between a boutique hotel and the normal type of hotels’.

The brand will cater to mostly savvy business and leisure travellers but not tour groups, said Mr Kwek, who is executive chairman of Hong Leong Group, the parent of M&C.

Studio M outlets have been earmarked for the Middle East, India, China, Vietnam and possibly Britain – through management contracts and ownership.

The debut hotel at Nanson Road will cost $120 million and will be built on a site Hong Leong bought in late 2006. It paid $45.8 million, or $518 per sq ft of potential gross floor area, in the tender.

The hotel will have 365 rooms with interiors and open-air tropical decks designed by Italian architect Piero Lissoni.

‘It is chic, stylish, and you don’t have to pay a bomb for it,’ said Mr Kwek. ‘It is like a five-star hotel, but you pay four-star rates.’ Rates have not been finalised, but a room will likely cost $230 to $250 a night, he said.

Mr Kwek described the Studio M brand as ‘utterly cool’ and a ’21st century new generation type of hotel’ that will boast the best technology and pack efficiency into mostly standard rooms of 270 sq ft.

He hatched the idea of creating a new hotel brand about four years ago, and said the brand will fill a gap in the market here. There is increasing demand from business travellers who want a distinctive and unique experience from their hotel in addition to functional services such as wireless connectivity, he said.

Room rates here have fallen this year, and while the hotel market is not as good as in pre-crisis days, Mr Kwek said it is set to improve.

‘It is my belief that the IRs (integrated resorts) will bring different types of customers here,’ he said, adding that a second Studio M could be built within the next 12 months.

A likely venue is the sleepy Orchard Hotel Shopping Arcade. Mr Kwek said they are studying the possibility of converting it into a Studio M.

He also believes the central business district and the Bukit Timah area could support Studio M outlets. And as if Studio M is not enough, Mr Kwek wants to create another hotel chain as ‘the world is running out of brands’.

Creating another brand will allow M&C to leverage on its vast experience in running hotels across the world.

Source : Straits Times – 12 Nov 2009

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