Raffles Creates Spa Unit As It Moves To Double Rooms
<B>Raffles Creates Spa Unit As It Moves To Double Rooms</B>
By Judy Jacobs
Raffles International Hotels & Resorts, which operates the Raffles and Merchant Court brands in Asia and Europe, is in the midst of a major expansion. The company has created a spa division, will take over management of Singapore's Westin Stamford and Westin Plaza hotels and intends to double its total room count.
"Raffles Holdings, through Raffles International its hotel management subsidiary, operates and manages 16 hotels and resorts in nine countries in Asia/Pacific and Europe. Our goal is to double our current room inventory to 12,000 rooms by 2003, through a mix of acquisitions, management contracts and operating leases," said Clarence Fu, the company's director of investor relations. "Our goal is to diversify our portfolio of hotels and resorts through geographical expansion in major gateway cities and leisure destinations in Asia, Europe and North America. Where North America is concerned, our primary focus will be the major cities on the East and West coasts of the United States: New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles. We are currently in advanced discussion with five parties in Asia and Europe for management contracts and are looking to acquire a medium-size hotel chain of between 10 and 20 hotels."
Meanwhile, the company has created a spa division known as Amrita Spas. Six spas were opened this summer and another seven will follow over the next year or so. Its first facilities were in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and in Raffles City.
The 50,000-sq.-ft. Amrita Spa at Raffles City is spread out over three floors and has more than 40 treatment rooms, making it, according to company officials, the largest spa facility in Asia.
Other Raffles spas already in operation include those in the company's two properties in Cambodia--Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh and Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap.
Although its most famous hotel is The Raffles in Singapore, the company has been busy over the past few years developing three international brands, Raffles, Merchant Court and Raffles Resort. Raffles, the five-star brand, includes the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, the Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Brown's in London and Hotel Vier Jabreszeiten in Hamburg. The first Raffles Resort was created with the restoration of the old Grand Hotel into the Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap near the ancient ruins of Cambodia's Angkor Wat. Merchant Court properties, geared toward business travelers, are in Singapore, Sydney and Bangkok.
Raffles International continues to expand as a group, with six hotels under development. These include the Merchant Court Shanghai, a 525-room property with an Amrita Spa that is scheduled to open late next year in the Luwan district. A 210-room Raffles resort is planned for a 2002 opening at Bali's Jimbaran Bay, joining neighboring Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton properties. A second Indonesian Raffles resort, a 300-room property on Bintan, an Indonesian island 45 minutes by ferry from Singapore, is scheduled to be ready in 2004. Other upcoming Raffles hotels will be located in Berlin, London and Mallorca.
Meanwhile, the company will take over management of its two hotels in Singapore's Raffles City, the Westin's Stamford and Plaza, when its contract with Westin Hotels & Resorts expires in December 2001. "The addition of more than 72,000 square feet of convention space and 2,046 rooms and suites at Raffles City takes Raffles International one step further to be a more significant player in the convention, exhibition and incentive segment of the hospitality industry," Fu said. "In Singapore, our corporate clients will be able to choose from a range of premium to luxury hotels offering contemporary to ultra-chic accommodation under a single brand--the Raffles International masterbrand. Meeting and incentive groups will be able to choose from a variety of packages to fit their respective agenda. For example, a package could consist of three days at a hotel in Raffles City for business followed by a day at Raffles Hotel for leisure.