NOBU Hospitality debuts in Asia with the 3Q2014 opening of a hotel within the City of Dreams Manila integrated resort, backed by big name partners such as actor Robert De Niro and film producer Meir Teper.
Trevor Horwell, CEO of Nobu Hospitality, said Nobu is a luxury lifestyle hotel that would attract the leisure market, while efforts would also be made to court the MICE market.
Named after celebrated chef Nobu Matsuhisa, the hotel will offer 321 rooms and feature the eponymous restaurant with an outdoor cabana style dining terrace overlooking Manila Bay.
Nobu Hospitality opened its first hotel in Las Vegas capitalising on the success of the Nobu restaurant brand. De Niro, who was at the launch ceremony yesterday, said celebrity culture helps a brand but “goes only so far”.
“People will come once or twice or thrice out of curiosity, but they will not come back if you don’t have a good product.”
The hotel is expected to be a hit with Chinese tourists. “This is a bet on the Philippines and it is a bet on China,” said James Packer, director of Melco Crown Entertainment, which runs the City of Dreams in Macau and is one of the companies behind the Manila offshoot.
“We really need it to work for the people of Manila and to also be an attraction that is good enough to get the Chinese market to come here and have fun.”
Nobu hotel is the second hotel in the City of Dreams Manila complex.
