Hyatt Introduces New Hotels in China

STR reported China hotel data for the week ended April 13th. China hotel RevPAR was down -10.9%, up against a tough +155.1% comp a year ago. Occupancy was down -4.7% for the week.

Hyatt Hotels announced the debut of Caption by Hyatt Zhongshan Park Shanghai in collaboration with Fungseng Prosperity (China) Limited. This marks the introduction of Hyatt's new lifestyle brand in the Asia Pacific region. The new hotel is located adjacent to Zhongshan Park, within the Yuyuan Road neighborhood. The Caption hotel has 254 rooms and includes self-guided select-service options in a prime location, including mobile food ordering services. Taole Central, on the second floor, serves as an all-day hangout venue, featuring a selection of locally-inspired food and beverage options, afternoon desserts and pastries, and a grab-and-go Market.

Hyatt also announced the opening of Hyatt Centric Zhongshan Park Shanghai, the first full-service Hyatt Centric branded hotel in the heart of Shanghai and the fourth Hyatt Centric in Greater China. The hotel features 262 rooms including 11 suites. SCENARIO 1555 is the hotel's restaurant, embracing the concept of a Shanghai-style bistro. The Hyatt Centric also offers a wide array of venues to host meetings, events and celebrations, a natural-lit fitness center, outdoor swimming pool and more.

Marriott's Fairfield by Marriott brand announced the opening of Fairfield by Marriott Chengdu High-Tech Zone marking the brand's 50th hotel opening milestone in Greater China. The 145-room hotel is located close to Guilong Park in Shuangliu District. The hotel is located 20 kilometers away from Shuangliu International Airport. The Fairfield Restaurant is located on the 20th floor with space for up to 100 guests. There also is a 24/7 Market in the lobby and a 24/7 fitness center.

Kempinski Group will debut the Bristoria brand in China, alongside a lakeside Kempinski Hotel in Yangzhou Economic Development Zone. Kempinski will open the two properties in Yangzhou, set in Yangzhou Economic Development Zone, expected to open in 2025. The hotel management agreement was signed by Kempinski Hotel Group with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone Culture and Tourism Group Co., Ltd. The hotels will be set in a collection of classical Chinese buildings ribboned by waterways and ornamental ponds with 405 guestrooms and suites between them. The lakeside Kempinski Hotel Yangzhou Nuoyuan will be home to 93 rooms and suites overlooking landscaped gardens and waterways. The boutique-sized hotel will also be home to a swimming pool and spa with a gym and fitness center and a ballroom for high-profile events and corporate functions. Bristol Hotel Yangzhou will be next door with 312 guestrooms, meeting rooms, and function spaces, the first-ever Bristoria hotel in China.

Melia Hotels said it has signed two new hotels in Thailand. The Paradisus Pattaya Jomtien Beach hotel is expected to open in 2028, while the Melia Pattaya City hotel is expected to open later this year.

Singapore is set to introduce a co-living space concept with its first-ever train hotel, scheduled to open in September 2024. The unique accommodation is being developed by local startup Tiny Pod in collaboration with JTC Corporation. They will repurpose a decommissioned SMRT train carriage into a boutique co-living hotel. The project is an extension of Tiny Pod's successful LaunchPad @ one-north initiative, a creative pop-up shipping container space launched in 2020. Located at Ayer Rajah Crescent, the train hotel will feature eight rooms, each with an attached bathroom. The hotel design includes a recreational green space integrated with facilities such as F&B vending machines, bicycle racks, and repurposed train chairs serving as public benches.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of a management agreement with IVY Hotels & Resorts to bring the first Crowne Plaza hotel to Uttarakhand. Scheduled to open in April 202, Crowne Plaza Dehradun Rajpur Road hotel will add 110 keys to IHG's portfolio in the state and build on IHG's commitment to expand its portfolio in well-known leisure destinations in India. The hotel set in Dehardun, the capital of Uttarakhand, with the location expected to ensure access to a market encompassing leisure, corporate, SME and MICE sectors.

Indian Hotels Company Limited's Taj Hotel group withdrew its plans to build a hotel in Nuwara Eliya around the post office, due to protests by the public. The residents of Nuwara Eliya do not want more hotels in the city and the viewpoint had been if the Taj Hotel had opened, two more hotels would have also opened in the area.

Hong Kong-listed Shin Hwa World Ltd announced a capital reorganization and proposed rights issue that it says will raise US$39 million to enhance the facilities and staffing at its struggling integrated casino resort, Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea. US$12.8 million will go to maintenance, renovation and upgrade of facilities at the resort. US$9.3 million is intended for the development of the Resort Business and Gaming Business of the Group such as service enhancement, supply chain management, human resources development as well as sales and marketing expenses. The rest will be used to pay interest expenses and general working capital. Like the rest of the South Korean foreigners-only IR casinos, the property reported a loss for 2023. They blamed the US$67 million loss on pressure on the room price and occupancy rate of its hotels due to intense competition and domestic customers traveling abroad after the easing of the global travel restrictions.

People Moves

Marriott International has appointed Neeraj Govil as Chief Operations Officer for Asia Pacific excluding China. Neeraj previously served as Senior Vice President Operations/CLS, APEC.

The MRS Group of Hotels announced the appointment of Sameer Mehra as Chief Commercial Officer. Mehra, most recently, was with Standard International in Thailand. Mehra's role at MRS will be to lead the group's strategic growth and commercial operations.