SWISSÔTEL Merchant Court kick-starts an 18-month-long refurbishment today amid a decline in tourist arrivals to Singapore.
Setting the ball rolling will be the upgrading of 262 out of 476 of the guestrooms. The Premier rooms and Swiss Select Clarke Quay rooms, formerly known as the Classic rooms and the Premier and Crest rooms respectively, are scheduled to be completed by this October.
Upgrades on the four meeting rooms, ballroom, Ellenborough Market Café, Crossroads Bar and hotel lobby will be carried out in phases. Two new meeting rooms as well as a Work and Surf zone will also be added to the lobby.
“Since we are only refurbishing from nine in the morning until six in the evening – we are not refurbishing at night, on weekends and on public holidays – there should be very little impact on the comfort of our guests,” Rainer Tenius, general manager of Swissôtel Merchant Court, told TTG Asia e-Daily.
He explained that as the normal lifespan of a hotel product is around eight years, it is timely for the hotel to refresh all its guestrooms and facilities.
Tenius added: “There are so many new hotels in Singapore. Obviously, we want to remain competitive as well.”
For Swissôtel, Singapore’s decline in tourist arrivals may be a boon instead of a bane, timing-wise.
“It seems that we have picked the right time to do our refurbishment,” Tenius said. “Once the influx of customers to Singapore increases, we can be ready with our refurbished product.”
By Jerlene Ng
