GRAND Hyatt Erawan Bangkok has embarked on an extensive refurbishment, with the first 83 upgraded guestrooms to be unveiled this August.

American interior designer Tony Chi has been engaged to mastermind the makeover of the five-star hotel, which has been in operation since 1991.

Divided into two phases, the makeover will involve the re-modelling of 374 guestrooms and suites, as well as the Grand Club Lounge. The first phase, which began in March, will see a total of 197 rooms upgraded by October. The second phase will run from April till September next year.

The renovated guestrooms will be available for reservations later this month, for stays from late-August onwards.

MARRIOTT International has finalised its agreement with Weligama Hotel Properties to operate the Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa in Sri Lanka (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 12, 2011).

Scheduled to open in 2014, the 200-room, 11-storey resort will be located in Weligama, a popular southern destination famous for its beaches and stilt fishermen.

Resort facilities will include 640m2 of flexible event space, three restaurants, one swimming pool with a pool bar, and a spa and fitness centre.

“Marriott is delighted to be extending its portfolio and opening a world-class hotel in Sri Lanka,” said Simon Cooper, Marriott president & managing director, Asia-Pacific.

“Sri Lanka is a destination that has great potential and opportunity, and we hope to capitalise on that and establish a strong presence in the country.”

Cooper added: “While India, the UK and Germany are the largest source markets for hotels in Sri Lanka; the Middle East and Russia are the emerging source markets. With the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority aiming to achieve a target of 2.5 million tourist arrivals by 2016, we are confident of attracting great leisure and business guests to the property.”

THE LUXURY Collection Hotels & Resorts is continuing its regional growth momentum with the debut of seven properties over the next three years in key gateway cities and resort destinations in Asia.

Paul James, global brand leader, St. Regis and The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, said:  “As a new generation of global affluent travellers emerge, we are strategically growing our portfolio beyond the traditional luxury grid and in diverse destinations, like Hainan Island and Chennai, that have become important hubs for business and leisure.”

The Royal Begonia, a Luxury Collection Resort, Sanya will open in August 2012 as the brand’s first resort in China. The hotel will offer 142 guest rooms, and eighteen luxury villas – each featuring a private pool and gardens. In September 2012, the 171-room Twelve at Hengshan, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Shanghai will make its debut.

Looking ahead in China, The Castle, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dalian is scheduled to open in 2014, while The 1958, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Suzhou is set to launch in July 2015.

In India, The Luxury Collection will reach ten hotels this August with the introduction of ITC Grand Chola, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Chennai.

The brand will also reach its third property milestone in both Thailand and Indonesia with the opening of 80-room Vana Belle, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Koh Samui in December 2012, and 64-room The Sarasvati, a Luxury Collection Resort, Bali in January 2014.

TUNE Hotels, which opened three hotels in the Philippines earlier this year, is set to unveil seven more properties in the country by the first half of 2014.

Ann Olalo, Philippines country head for Red Planet Hotels, which manages the Tune Hotels brand in the country, said the rapid expansion was being fueled by escalating demand for budget accommodation options.

The seven Tune Hotels in the pipeline include one in Manila’s Makati CBD – scheduled to open this month, three more in Manila, one each in Davao and Cagayan de Oro in the south, and another Iloilo in the Visayas.

While priced as economy hotels, Tune Hotels feature five-star beds, pressure showers and accessible locations to attract the middle class. Olalo said: “In fact, we have corporate accounts targeted at middle management.”

The three existing Tune Hotels in Ermita (Manila), Clark and Cebu boast 40 per cent walk-in guests, while nearly 60 per cent of customers make online bookings through the Tune Hotels website and Agoda.com. “We still do traditional selling with travel (experts), but that has become a minor segment,” said Olalo.

So far, Tune Hotels’ only local competitor in terms of market, pricing and product concept is Go Hotels, which is also fast expanding into secondary destinations, said Olalo.

SINGAPORE Airlines’ budget offshoot Scoot will introduce its inaugural Singapore-Taipei flights from September 18, instead of in October as previously announced (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 6, 2012).

Operated thrice-weekly using Boeing 777-200 aircraft, the outbound flights will depart Singapore Changi Airport at 01.05 and arrive at Taipei’s Taoyuan airport at 05.40. The return flight will leave the Taiwan capital at 15.40 and arrive in Singapore at 20.10.

To mark the launch of the Singapore-Taipei route, Scoot is offering a 48-hour sale from July 9, with economy fares starting from S$88 (US$69) per pax (one-way).

MOVENPICK Hotels & Resorts has put in place the structure to support its swift Asian expansion by creating a new position, vice president operations-Asia, which has been filled by a hotelier who is no stranger to the region, Bruno Huber.

From just a sprinkling of hotels in the Far East, Movenpick will have 25 hotels in operation and under construction in the region by 2015. Huber, currently general manager and regional manager-Jordan, will be based in Bangkok, where he served the Plaza Athenee before joining Movenpick nine years ago. The appointment is effective September 3, 2012.

The new role is in keeping with Movenpick president & CEO Jean-Gabriel Peres’ vision to turn Movenpick into the best upscale hospitality company in the world.

Since joining Movenpick 13 years ago, Peres has internationalised the Swiss chain, which was previously operating a mixed bag of around 30 mid-market, four- and five-star hotels in Switzerland, Germany and Egypt. Now, Movenpick’s network spans across 25 countries, and includes over 70 hotels in operation and more than 30 under construction, all of which are upscale and upper upscale properties.

In Asia, Movenpick operates two hotels in Phuket and one each in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Singapore and Cebu. This year, it will open a hotel each in Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Palawan. It has also signed and announced a hotel each in Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Manila, Jomtien, Bangkok, Shanghai, Sanya, Mongolia and Qui Non (Vietnam).

“I’m a great believer in the decentralisation of a number of operational functions. We need to be close to market, where the owners are. Having a strong regional base with good competence is the name of the game,” Peres told TTG Asia e-Daily.

He attributed Movenpick’s globalisation and evolution into the pure upscale segment to an infusion of talent from five-star brands and who already know Asia well – such as Andreas Mattmuller, COO, Middle East and Asia – into a brand which had strong foundations.

Peres said the chain’s Middle East expansion focus in the beginning had been deliberate, as it was a region “pretty close” to Switzerland. He said the Arab Spring had not affected Movenpick as some people had thought. “We do not have downtown hotels. We’re in resort destinations where people fly directly to and are therefore less affected than a property in, say, Cairo. In Bahrain, for example, we’re close to the airport.

“Yes, there has been overall a decrease of some business but it has not been a collapse,” Peres said, adding that Movenpick would continue to sign properties in the Middle East and would also seek to establish a bigger presence in Sub-Saharan Africa.

– Movenpick’s mover, read View from the Top, TTG Asia, July 13, 2012

CITILINK has finally obtained its Air Operator’s Certificate from the Indonesian civil aviation authorities, marking its full separation from parent carrier, Garuda Indonesia.

Citilink, which has been operating 14 aircraft across 11 domestic routes connecting eight cities, has managed to secure the rights to fly a total of 70 domestic and 16 regional routes following the spin-off.

Citilink president Arif Wibowo was quoted by local media as saying: “We are going to focus on domestic routes this year, and will enter regional destinations such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and South Australia next year.”

Garuda president & CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said Citilink would receive six more aircraft by end-2012, and that its fleet would grow to 50 planes by 2015.

“Operating as an LCC, Citilink will target customers who prefer to travel by rail rather than by air, in line with their increasing buying power,” he said.

THE LEGIAN Bali reopened on June 1, 2012 following a four-month makeover.

Natural light, easy airflow, prime ocean views and inviting green space were all on the agenda as the hotel underwent its most extensive facelift since opening in 1996.

The 68-room resort now boasts a new 30-metre infinity lap pool and beachfront sun deck, freshly landscaped gardens, improved lighting in half of its guestrooms, and upgraded views of the Indian Ocean from its private, three-bedroom Beach House.

In the first of two stages of renovations, improvement works were focused on the guest rooms. The plumbing was fixed for better temperature control, the air circulation systems were recalibrated, and new lighting was installed on the terraces.

The resort’s exclusive Beach House was the recipient of a new 20m2 terrace with sunbeds, accessible from the master bedroom, which was also rearranged for better ocean views. More windows were installed to allow more sunlight into the building, while the living room was opened up with two walls of transparent folding doors – giving guests the option to enjoy 180-degree panoramic views.

The new infinity pool, the highlight of the refurbishment, was built from the ground up closer to the shoreline than the resort’s two other oases. Meanwhile, the new deck space fronting the Ocean Bar delivers peerless views of the sunset.

LUFTHANSA recently took delivery of its second Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft, with which the German flag carrier is planning to operate a daily service between Frankfurt and New Delhi from August 6, 2012.

The B747-8 is a completely new aircraft that builds upon the positive features of the Boeing 747 series, Lufthansa’s longhaul workhorse for more than 40 years.

On board, passengers can enjoy the new Business Class, which offers seats that can be converted into horizontal sleeping surfaces measuring 1.98 metres in length.

The plane also features significantly improved aerodynamics and tangible improvements in terms of eco-efficiency – consuming less fuel and achieving a 15 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions per passenger. In addition, noise emissions have been reduced by 30 per cent.

Since the beginning of June, Lufthansa’s first B747-8 has been deployed on the Frankfurt-Washington route.

A further two B747-8s are scheduled for delivery in 2012. The destinations where Lufthansa is planning to deploy the new planes include Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka.

Lufthansa has ordered a total of 20 B747-8s.