The ups and downs of a global pandemic have not paused expansion plans for Vietnam’s Wink Hotels.
In March 2021, the company opened its debut hotel, the 237-room Wink Hotel Saigon Center. Michael Piro, Wink’s CEO and COO of owner Indochina Capital — which was founded in 1999 — said Wink was the first local hospitality brand to target the booming “Indochine 2.0 Generation."
The Indochine 2.0 Generation is “dynamic and young-at-heart. Age is not the defining factor. Mindset is the key criteria here,” Piro said.
Wink was created to appeal to those in the know with a name that is a little “cheeky and flirtatious,” he said.
Real estate developer Indochina has built a reputation as a developer, creating such projects as the Hyatt Regent Danang Resort & Spa, Novotel Phan Thiet & Ocean Dunes Golf Club and Six Senses Resort Con Dao, among others.
Wink Hotels was formed in a partnership between developer Indochina Kajima and operator Indochina Vanguard — both owned by Indochina Capital — Vanguard Hotels and Kajima Corporation.
The partnership has committed to a $1 billion investment for Wink Hotels in Vietnam, Piro said. More than 40% of Vietnam’s population is aged 30 and younger, Piro said, and he added that the Indochine 2.0 Generation respects tradition but aspires to greater heights.
According to Fitch Solutions, Vietnam’s middle- and upper-income segment — with disposable household income of $10,000 or more and which currently makes up 10% of the population — will grow by 18.3% between 2021 and 2025. It is this rapidly growing middle class of dynamic, highly mobile, tech-savvy individuals that make up the Indochine 2.0 Generation.
Piro said Wink classifies room types simply, with standard, twin and family rooms intended to avoid guests having to second-guess room configuration, and that the brand epitomizes the new digital transformation within Vietnam’s hospitality industry.
Such digital initiatives include its STAY24 program, which guarantees a 24-hour stay regardless of check-in time, and an app for smart devices that also functions as check-in and room keys and allows guests to connect with hotel guides for tips on attractions, restaurants, bars and other activities.
With digital-savvy travelers in mind, the Wink Hotel Saigon Center also provides self-order kitchens, hip bars, designer mattresses, power showers, local collaborations and a co-working space by Toong, which had branches in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Guests can use other Toong facilities, too, not just the one at their hotel.
Another transformational technology is the Wink Keycard Credits, which are stored-valued technology that allows guests to fill up credit that can be used for food and beverage, laundry or future visits, Piro said.
Paris-based architect Architecture Workshop is charged with interpreting and integrating Wink’s enhanced functionality, Vietnamese contemporary chic and creative design that runs from colorful, bespoke sunshades on hotel façades to cushion fabrics and bicycle wheels used as quirky table legs.
“We aim to redefine affordable luxury in Vietnam and regionwide by putting the same level of attention and love of detail that we gave to our past luxury products into something for everyone to access,” Piro said. “We are taking elements of the old and new Vietnam to build our brand DNA while being innovative and efficient in how we operate to cater to a new generation of travelers, reflecting a change in society in Vietnam and in Indochina, change that is happening as fast as a wink."
Going Forth
Piro said Vietnam’s fourth wave lockdown failed to put a dent on the performance of the debut Wink Hotel, with the Saigon hotel running at full occupancy by “providing safe accommodation space to companies like Intel, Mercedes and Sonion, which have operations in Saigon.”
He said that with life gradually returning to normalcy, strict safety measures are being enforced by Wink management to provide reassurance for locals on staycations.
Wink's post-lockdown plans include targeting Asia-Pacific markets, specifically those located "within a three- to five-hour flight from Vietnam,” Piro said.
With four Wink Hotels assets in construction, Piro said he is confident of achieving “our goal of developing 20 Wink Hotels across Vietnam in 10 years.”
“Construction continued throughout the pandemic with barely an interruption. We plan to open the next hotel in Danang in [the fourth quarter 2022] and launch our hotel-and-suites imprint, also in Danang, shortly after that,” he said.
Other destinations for Wink include Can Tho, Hai Phong and Tuy Hoa.
“Vietnam is a resilient country, and we want the brand to reflect that, too,” he said.