<B>Hong Kong Bows To Demand</B>
By Judy Jacobs
Two new Hong Kong hotels will help meet the growing demand for mid-price properties targeting the corporate market. Although the Chinese province has ample five-star hotels to accommodate upscale corporate travelers, the need remains for the midrange, evident in the fact that most of the hotels currently under construction and on the drawing board will supply rooms in this category.
The first of these, the Rosedale on the Park, opened earlier this year as Best Western's entrée into the Hong Kong market. Best Western, which never before had a property in Hong Kong, is looking at the hotel as the beginning of greater expansion in the region. The second new upcoming hotel, the Empire Kowloon, is scheduled to begin receiving guests this summer.
Rosedale on the Park, located on a site in Causeway Bay overlooking Victoria Park--Hong Kong island's largest urban park--bills itself as a cyber-boutique hotel.
"It is one of the most high-tech cyber hotels in Asia," said Maria Lee, Rosedale general manager. "Two years ago, I was thinking about building a hotel for the future and wanted to do everything I could to make it that way."
Her hotel of the future is the first hotel in Hong Kong to use a digital PABX telephone system. There are three telephones in each room: a traditional phone, a cordless phone and a mobile phone that can be taken and used anywhere in the hotel, from the restaurants to the meeting rooms.
Travelers who bring their PCs can plug them into the dataport for broadband high-speed Internet access. Guests also can take advantage of one of the hotel's wireless modem cards, to access the Internet and work anywhere on the property. Those who prefer to leave their computers behind soon will be able to check their e-mail messages on Web phones slated to be installed in each guest room by year-end.
With all its high-tech amenities, the hotel is expected to appeal to business travelers--a niche that Lee predicted will represent 80 percent of the hotel's business. Business travel to Hong Kong is changing, and Hong Kong Island is becoming more of a destination for corporate travelers than it was in the past.
"Hong Kong Island is more business-oriented now. A lot of factories are moving to China, so Kowloon is becoming more for leisure travel," Lee said. A lot of multinational companies have set up offices in Causeway Bay, an area traditionally known more for shopping and dining. Compaq, Fujitec, Pepsi, Sony and Unisys all have regional offices in the neighborhood and help supply some of the guests for Rosedale on the Park.
Rosedale's 274 rooms include 45 one-bedroom suites, each with a dining and sitting room that can be converted into an office, as well as a kitchenette. These suites have been popular with long-staying residents, which Lee said make up more than 10 percent of the hotel's guests. Some are in Hong Kong on medium-term assignments, and others are staying at the Rosedale while they look for an apartment.
Lee said the three floors of suites were designed to be rented out floor by floor for what she calls a "mini-mart," or a small trade show. The bedrooms can be used for sleeping accommodations and the sitting rooms as showrooms for products.
Meanwhile, the guest rooms aren't the only part of the hotel geared to the 21st century. There are three videoconferencing areas that are used widely by local companies that can't afford their own videoconferencing equipment. The hotel also has six meeting rooms. The largest is 1,000 square feet and can seat 100 theater-style or 50 for banquets.
While Rosedale on the Park will satisfy the needs of the mid-range corporate market on Hong Kong Island, the new Empire Kowloon, which is expected to begin receiving guests this summer, will cater to that same niche on the other side of Hong Kong Harbor. Located in the heart of Tsimshatsui, Kowloon's lively shopping district, the 315-room hotel is billing itself as "a trendy and urban chic hotel" and plans to cater heavily to the corporate market.
"We expect that 65 percent of our guests will be business travelers in Hong Kong for all types of business, from toys to garments. We also expect to get exhibition and convention attendees," said Lawrence Wong, the hotel's director of sales and marketing. The hotel will include the largest indoor swimming pool in Hong Kong, a health club, business center, executive floors and two trendy restaurants, one Western-style and the other Chinese/Indian cuisine. It also will have three meeting rooms, seating between 20 and 80 people. The Empire is targeting insurance and high-tech companies, as well as banks and medical associations for meetings, Wong added.
The Empire Kowloon will be the third hotel for Empire Hotels and Resorts, a division of Asia Standard International Ltd. The company has plans to expand and is exploring possibilities in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in China.