Wyndham to grow newly-acquired brands in Asia

WYNDHAM Hotel Group (WHG), which has acquired exclusive rights to franchise and manage Chatwal Hotels & Resorts’ Dream and Night boutique hotel brands, is keen to grow the brands in Asia.

The two boutique brands come on top of WHG’s license agreement with Planet Hollywood Resorts International to franchise the Planet Hollywood Hotels brand, and its acquisition of the Tryp Hotels brand from Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts—both of which will be pushed out in Asia, according to president and managing director Asia-Pacific, Ken Greene.

This brings the total number of brands WHG has in its portfolio to 15.

When asked why 11 brands were not enough, Greene, speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore today, explained: “Each of our acquisitions plays a strategic role for us. Planet Hollywood, for example, is a unique destination-within-a-destination type of product, not unlike Hard Rock Hotels, and there is just one in Las Vegas, which has a couple of thousand rooms.”

“We’ve announced the first Planet Hollywood in Asia in Boao, Hainan (350 rooms) and are working on other deals.”

Greene added: “Dream and Night—again, we didn’t have the five-star and three- to four-star (respectively) boutique type of properties. Likewise, Tryp by Wyndham, which is a type of hotel brand that helps guests to experience the city in the best way possible through city centre location, use of technology and enhanced concierge services, etc…it will be an interesting brand for China.”

India will be a focus of expansion for Dream and Night, according to Greene. “We just got back in India with them (Chatwal Hotels’ Sant Singh and Vikram Chatwal), and our CEO Eric Danziger, CFO and head of HR were there as well to do a PR tour,” he said. There are four Dream hotels in operation—two in New York, and one each in Bangkok and Cochin.

Greene, meanwhile, has hit pay dirt with management agreements in Asia, from none three years ago to over 20 managed deals today under the Wyndham and Ramada brands. “In Thailand, for instance, we have executed six deals—four in Bangkok, all different tiers of Ramada, including the first Ramada Encore in Asia, a Days Hotel in Phuket and a Wyndham in Khao Lak,” he said.

WHG will also be opening two managed hotels in Singapore—a Ramada this December, and a Days Hotel soon after.

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