bhrubin

No argument that Macau and Hong Kong are separate markets. But that has nothing to do with Hong Kong Kowloon versus Central IMO. Hong Kong Kowloon and Central are not separate markets as you are trying to portray them.

There is one FS. There is one Pen. There is one RC. There is one Park Hyatt. There is one Conrad. There is one W. There is one RC. There is one TUH. There will be one StR. There are 2 MOs BOTH in Central, but MO owns both. The fact that Marriott has both StR and RC brands means that the chance of another of either being offered would be quite unlikely, as it wouldn't be advantageous for the owners. Any 2nd option would cannibalize from the other.

There are 2 Shangri-la and 2 Intercontinental properties. But those aren't in the same rarefied league as RC and StR.

We will have to agree to disagree...but I don't think we will see a second RC in Hong Kong for a very long time if ever now that Marriott owns both RC and StR and will have 2 top drawer luxury hotels on offer for both Kowloon and Central.

stimpy

I think the point is that one would not cannibalize the other. They are different markets for the same reason Macau is a different market. They are very different destinations. If you want to stay in Central, you stay in Central. If you want Kowloon, you stay in Kowloon. Remember that the market here is more business oriented than tourist. Businesspeople go where they need to go. But I understand that for a tourist they might not care which side of the water they are on as they plan to tour around both sides.

The main IC here is absolutely in the same league as the RC (better in most ways) and we don't know yet what the StR will look like. Hopefully it will be great, but this IC is far better than some other StR's I could mention. And the Island Shangri-La is slightly better than the Conrad, but roughly in the same league and has the same owner (also the JW).

Yup.

Fly Me To The Moon

Where will the Park Hyatt be located?

newshound

You guys are discussing this project as though it was in Central, it is very firmly in the Wan Chai area, I mean it's not even that close to Admiralty, let alone Central.

I drove past at the weekend and was surprised to see a St Regis popping up right there I guess there has to be some sort of market for that area as the Grand Hyatt is right next door but with a limited harbor view I personally don't see the attraction (other than immediate access to the convention center).

miloworld

I'm a Hong Konger, I've never heard of any business or individuals who would categorize HK and Kowloon/NT as different markets.

IFC and ICC are literally 2 mins apart via the MTR line Tung Chung line. There's no way they would allow 2 Ritz Carltons so close to each other. I've only seen Interncon's so close to each other.

Macau, however is a completely different market.

l380

In terms of real estate market, it is significantly different. Since hotel is essentially a type of properties, I would say the market in HK & Kowloon aren't the same. HK island hotel rates are generally higher than Kowloon as well.

Nonetheless, I do agree that it makes no sense to have 2 RCs unless they want a brand identity crisis.

stimpy

You're right of course. For some reason I had the old Ritz Carlton in my head which was in Central.

stimpy

As we have discussed in this thread, there are many other examples besides the Intercontinentals. Mandarin Oriental is another such example, but that is a business decision the chain made. Clearly they were not overly concerned about allowing two of the same brand near to each other. Shangri-La is another, and the lower brands have many, many examples.

helvetic

Macau / Shenzhen and Hong Kong are an hour from each other, and very distinct places. Kowloon and Central are 5min from each other and generally considered to be part of the same city. You could easily go stay in Kowloon and go to Central many times a day (ditto w/ Wan Chai, which is just a couple minutes further on the star ferry). That's not the case with Macau and Shenzhen, which are separate countries with separate immigration procedures. Also, both Macau and Shenzhen have their own airports.

jli

Here's the press release of the hotel
http://en.crc.com.cn/newsroom/Busine...629_392742.htm

I also took a picture when passing through the site today. IMO the location is not really great and there are just buildings nearby which certainly block the view of the hotel, highly doubt if any of the rooms can enjoy the harbour view...

woresu

In HK:
- Shangri-la properties are all owned by the same Shangri-la Group
- MO-branded properties are directly held by MO or its parent Jardine
- 3 Hyatt are all owned or managed by NWD Group, seems exclusive?
- SHK owns W, FS and RC...
- Conrad, JW and IC are owned by other big developers. Also hv Pullman here.
- Upcoming we have Marriott / Fullerton in Ocean Park.
That really leaves not much 5-star choices: WA and St. Regis, and maybe Fairmont.

Its location is too close to GH (Hyatt), Ren and JW (Marriott), Conrad (Hilton), Island Shangri-la, Indigo (IHG) and Novotel (Accor), all walking distance or 5-min taxi at most. Maybe franchise agreement already wiped out these chains as possible candidates.

I think CR Land (this St Regis owner) has a tendency for Hyatt, judging from its Grand Hyatt footprints across China. This building somehow looks like an Andaz to me, but I think they have limited 5-star brand choices.

Herostratus

Some rooms will have a harbour view through the gap between the convention centre and Great Eagle Centre

stimpy

I walked by today and saw the site. I can't see how there will be any views by hotel guests, but we'll see. Maybe a bit through the gap as mentioned above. As there was no work going on (it's Sunday, but I see other hotel construction sites working today) and it looked like they'd barely begun, I wondered how many years it will take to open. I now see on the website that they've set a January 1st, 2020 date. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/stregi...language=en_US

It was a relatively short walk from this site to the Wan Chai ferry terminal. So future guests have that going for them. Which is nice.

miloworld

Some construction updates, seems almost done.

miloworld

See the wider windows in the middle on higher levels facing the harbour?
I believe those will be harbour-view suites peeking through the gap @Herostratus's talking about.