ONE Farrer Hotel & Spa Singapore is putting the final touches to its opening on September 3 and, though the hotel is pitched at the luxury level, rates will not be luxurious at the start in a bid to draw the well-heeled to a new location and product concept.
For the first three to six months, the opening rates for the three-in-one hotel concept will range from S$280 (US$224) for rooms at the Urban Hotel, to S$400 for suites and S$1,000 for villas at the Skyline Hotel, said general manager and vice president hotel operations, Gilbert Madhavan.
Chairman, Richard Helfer, said: “The rates at One Farrer Hotel & Spa for a while would be more attractive than some other areas of the city, as it’s in a new location and we are a new independent hotel. This plus our superior facilities are good reasons for people to come as they know we’re a five-star hotel and they can try it out at a lower rate for now.”
The 243-room hotel has a three-in-one concept: Urban Hotel, levels 11-15, targeted at business and leisure travellers; Loft Apartments, levels 16-17, targeted at the extended stay market; and the Skyline Hotel, levels 18-20, targeted at the luxury segment.
It is part of a mixed-use development called Connexion at Farrer Park, which also boasts The Farrer Park Medical Centre, home to more than 200 medical specialists, and The Farrer Hospital, one of the first private hospitals to be built ground-up in Singapore after 30 years.
But only 25 per cent of the hotel’s business mix will be medical tourism. The rest will be leisure (15 per cent), corporates (30-35 per cent) and the remainder, meetings and incentives.
Helfer, former founding chairman and CEO of Raffles International Hotels & Resorts, said One Farrer Hotel & Spa would “drive” the leisure and corporate market with its concept and service standards.
– Richard Helfer on making a Connexion, View From the Top, TTG Asia, September 12 issue
