(Corrected on Oct. 19 to identify two hotel projects as in development in the 22nd paragraph.)
With several recent hotel openings around the region, Singapore’s Far East Hospitality Holdings has been busy during the pandemic.
A division of the country’s largest private property firm, Far East Organization, Far East Hospitality is an international hospitality owner-operator with a diverse portfolio of serviced residences, aparthotels and 10 hotel brands.
Its combined portfolio runs close to 18,000 rooms under management across more than 105 hotels and serviced residences in Austria, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Brands include Oasia, Quincy, Rendezvous, Village, Far East Collection, Adina Hotels, A by Adina, Vibe Hotels, Travelodge Hotels and Collection by TFE Hotels.
Each brand, its executives said, has an “inimitable appeal and proposition based on a customer-focused approach instead of the traditional star-rating system.”
CEO Arthur Kiong described the hotel firm as offering “Singapore-inspired hospitality where our guests are offered comfort without excess, attention without pretension," and properties "designed with a focus on aesthetics without being ostentatious, while remaining relevant with a touch of elegance.”
The 191-key Oasia Resort Sentosa, which opened on Sept. 1, is the company's fourth property in Sentosa, the city state’s playground island, following the 2019 openings of the Village Hotel Sentosa, The Outpost Hotel and The Barracks Hotel.
Two other Oasia properties are on mainland Singapore and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Kiong said the group has styled the Oasia Resort Sentosa, which occupies a heritage building, as a wellness lifestyle resort extending beyond spa treatments to holistic programs encompassing healthy eating, fitness routines, mind-body practices and activities in nature.
Guests have access to wellness journals, self-care checklists and a collection of guided meditation audio podcasts.
“Health and wellness will be a key hospitality niche post-pandemic, so we wanted to be ready to capture this market segment when recovery happens. The introduction of Oasia Resort Sentosa and Oasia Spa is just the beginning of our companywide transformation strategy to meet the new demands for health and wellness,” Kiong said.
With staycation demand lingering, the response from local residents has been “enthusiastic and encouraging,” he added.
On Oct. 11, the Singapore government announced the reopening of borders to international travelers from the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Canada and Denmark.
Growth Plans
Kiong said the company is on an expansion path.
“We aim to grow our portfolio to 25,000 rooms by 2025, not through acquisitions of hotels but by increasing the number of hotel management agreements in regions where there is strong growth potential especially in domestic tourism,” he said.
Countries targeted include Australia, Japan and Vietnam. China and Europe, where intra-travel is “buoyant,” according to Kiong, are also being considered.
“While growth will be aggressive, our strategy involves transforming ourselves from a local midtier operator to a world-class manager of lifestyle brands … enabling us to compete head-on with international players when bidding for management contracts,” he added.
Earlier in the year, Far East Hospitality unveiled its fifth hotel in its Far East Collection, The Clan, at the edge of Singapore’s Chinatown district.
The Far East Collection, Kiong said, “embodies distinctive personalities inspired by the culture and heritage of the locale.”
Outside of Singapore, the second Village-branded hotel opened in June in Yokohama, Japan, almost a year to the day after the launch of the Far East Village Ariake in Tokyo. The company also debuted its Quincy brand in Australia, on iconic Flinders Lane in Melbourne. It is a joint venture with Toga Fast East Hotels.
“Our partnership with Toga remains strong. We have identified one or two Toga brands that we will be bringing into Singapore in the near future. These brands will be introduced through the rebranding of some of our properties in Singapore,” Kiong said.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Far East Hospitality recently signed two boutique hotels in Vietnam — Hotel Suzu and Hotel Reve — in Ho Chi Minh City, due to open in the first half of 2022 under a hotel management and technical services agreement with Five Elements Development.
Artotel Alliance
Other partnerships helping boost the firm include a "strategic alliance agreement" signed in April with one of Indonesia’s leading boutique hospitality and lifestyle firms, Artotel Group, which offers accommodation, food and beverage, event management and merchandising.
Kiong said the partnership will allow increased distribution of both firm’s brands and give Far East Hospitality more exposure in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest market.
Under the terms of the partnership, both parties will collaborate across operations, branding and training, as well as supporting business growth across markets.