Brought to you by Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu
Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s opening of Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu late last year marks the debut of Hyatt’s rapidly growing lifestyle brand in Malaysia and South-east Asia.
Ruben Schrijver, general manager, said: “An exciting addition and reflection of the Hyatt Centric brand that is young and vibrant, Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu strives to engage the local community through meaningful activities that support design, arts, sustainability and local culture, in line with our brand values. For example, we wanted to provide a journey of discovery for our guests through the hotel’s unique interior spaces and art pieces, where they can discover and further explore the rich, natural and cultural heritage that Sabah is famous for.”
Celebrating design, arts, sustainability and local culture
The 222-key hotel’s contemporary, inviting architecture and interiors by globally renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma reflect the heritage of Sabah.
The nature-inspired concept is designed with two natural elements of Sabah topography in mind with a mix of lush green forests and the rocky mountains, paying homage to Mount Kinabalu, Borneo’s highest mountain.
Using tree as the primary design metaphor, Kuma creatively applies its elements throughout the hotel’s different spaces – the open hotel lobby represents the roots of the tree with dense lower greenery, while the hotel guest room floors depict the vertical lines of a tree trunk, and the rooftop area serves as the crown offering unobstructed views of Signal Hill, the islands at Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park and the South China Sea.
Guests can also marvel at the work of art by Agnes Lau featuring ceramics on wood panels at the lift lobby on guestroom floors, and abstract wall images representing Mount Kinabalu, designed by Regev Amrani.
Besides, Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu took a bold step by partnering with well-known local designer, Melinda Looi, to come up with a striking and fun design for the hotel staff uniforms, paired with vibrant accessories from Happy Plastics Borneo made of upcycled plastic materials to promote sustainable fashion.
The sustainability front also saw the hotel embarking on ambitious plans to advance eco-friendly activations through its operations and it has already been awarded the Silver certification by GreenRE for green building excellence.
For example, the hotel adopts new LED light bulbs for all lighting and energy keycards for rooms, integrating room lighting and air conditioning. The shower, faucet and wall closet water tank usage also adheres to GreenRE requirements.
For the active wanderers and the curious travellers who seek authentic local experiences, the hotel provides guided street art tours to explore the hidden gems of the neighbourhood.
Curated by a resident of Kota Kinabalu, travellers and local guests can listen to the real stories and inspiration behind a collection of iconic works of street art through the 60-minute walking tour.
Attractions at close proximity
Steps away from shopping hotspots, local kopitiam delights and the Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal, leisure travellers can take a short 20-minute boat trip to surrounding islands to enjoy white sandy beaches and underwater activities.
With Kota Kinabalu International Airport a 15-minute drive from the hotel, Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu is conveniently located for business travellers too with its close proximity to Sabah International Convention Centre, as well as a sports complex and university.
Pre- and post-meeting activities are aplenty for bleisure guests with Borneo famed for its unique wildlife, rainforest retreats and national parks.
Stylish, well-equipped guestrooms
Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu features stylish guestrooms, including 16 spacious suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a private balcony complete with outdoor furniture, as well as views of the bustling city and lush green hills.
Accessible via a digital key in the World of Hyatt mobile app, the guestrooms offer thoughtful amenities for leisure and business travellers alike – from oversized ergonomic workspaces and large 55-inch television where guests can stream their favourite media through a casting system, to socially conscious bath amenities.
Attractive lifestyle offerings
Collectively, ON22 restaurant and ON23 bar form the duplex dining destination, immersing guests in vibrant Asian flavours and creative beverages alongside mesmerising views from day to night.
Featuring indoor and outdoor patio seating, complete with a live kitchen, ON22’s “Dining in the Gardens” theme features three distinct spaces – Sea-Forest, Wood Garden and Dry Garden – paying tribute to Mount Kinabalu.
Connecting ON22 restaurant to ON23 rooftop bar is a curved centrepiece staircase leading guests to a light-filled ambience where they can enjoy the lounge amid modern furnishings with wood finishes and granite.
A perfect spot at sundown to take in the panoramic island sunset, ON23’s welcoming and fun atmosphere is ideal for after-work drinks, as well as daytime relaxation where guests can indulge in craft cocktails and ciders alongside shared plates and snacks.
The Lounge in the lobby is another inviting social space for travellers to enjoy quick bites and beverages, and is home to a pop-up artisan corner.
Guests who wish to keep up with their wellness routine on the road can also make use of the fitness centre or head to the infinity rooftop pool on level 23.
Versatile event spaces
The hotel houses 293 m2 of versatile function space with seven meeting rooms conveniently located on the third floor.
Each meeting room comes with balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows, state-of-the-art audio visual equipment for in-person seminars, as well as hybrid meetings and intimate social events.
Ready to explore the Land Below The Wind?
Discover Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu’s exciting room packages such as its Suite Delight and Hyatt Centric Experience stay offers here.
World of Hyatt members can look forward to an additional 5 per cent off for stays.
For more information or to book a stay,
Visit: www.hyattcentrickotakinabalu.com
Email: hyattcentrickotakinabalu@hyatt.com
Call/whatsapp: +60154 874 1234
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Facebook: Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu
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He was most recently the vice president of sales & marketing for Asia & Middle East at The Standard Hotels.
Hong Kong and Macau will welcome an influx of mainland Chinese travellers this May Day holidays from April 29 to May 4 – the first massive wave since all travel restrictions on the Chinese were lifted in February this year.
According to Hong Kong’s Immigration Department, some 4.61 million travellers are expected to pass through Hong Kong’s sea, land and air control points during this period.
Tourism players in the destination told TTG Asia that they been preparing for this travel surge.
Luc Bollen, general manager of The Park Lane Hong Kong, a Pullman Hotel, said his team has implemented contactless technology to improve overall efficiency and guest experience. This includes check-in robots in the lobby, and an online booking system that allows guests to book their stays and make F&B reservations.
Bollen said his property has been able to avoid the current widespread labour shortage by retaining all staff during the challenging years and implementing various employee-focused initiatives such as employee wellness programme, on-the-job training, education sponsorships and collaboration with several hotel management universities in Hong Kong to provide scholarships, internships and career talks aimed at talents aspiring to join the hotel industry.
Kam Wai Travel, director, Frankie Lam, has also been able to rebuild his manpower to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Hotel Alexandra’s general manager, Christina Cheng, said her team is able to “cope with the business pick-up”, and that every staff member will have to “work harder” while recruitment continues.
“We are also training colleagues to multi-task and help out departments that are very busy. We continue to conduct cross-department trainings and offer flexible duty hours,” Cheng said.
When asked if the May Day travel rebound and busy days will translate to healthy profits, Kam Wai Travel’s Lam said: “Profit margin is narrow given intense competition from the OTAs. Therefore, I do not think we can turn business from loss to profit this year. It would take us two to three years to make up for the loss incurred during the three pandemic years.”
Lam also noted that the travel surge is driven by FITs, a segment that is outperforming group tours. Furthermore, groups are now made up mostly of small-sized families.
Over in Macau, the May Day holidays are expected to catalyse travel recovery.
According to Kris Kaminsky, senior vice president of hotel operations at Sands China, the destination is already “on the track of accelerated recovery underpinned by various favourable measures and tourism promotion campaigns”.
“More encouragingly, the Macau government has recently announced that it will no longer restrict the number of land border crossings between Macau and Zhuhai (on the mainland) to a single round-trip per day starting May 1, 2023,” he added.
CTS (Macao), travel department sales and marketing manager, Pun Cheng Man, observed that demand is strong from both FITs and group tours. Previously, group tours would dominate.
She explained that as the FIT segment is driving up hotel rates, group tours are finding it more expensive to visit Macau during the May Day holidays.
While Pun welcomes busy days, she said that earnings are only 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels due to escalating costs of tourism products and operations.
Editor’s note: The Park Lane Hong Kong, a Pullman Hotel was incorrectly labelled as The Park Land in the original post. This has been corrected.