Newly opened Sofitel Guangzhou Sunrich may promote itself as a business hotel with emphasis on MICE, but it also aspires to bring art and culture to the city with events such as the annual Fête de la Musique. Meeting facilities are named after renowned French literati such as Victor Hugo and French poems are inscribed on the carpet of every room.
This hotel is among 20 properties in China managed by the French hospitality group, which will add another two hotels by year-end. But all in all, the number has actually gone down because of the new luxury benchmark that has been imposed recently.
Half a dozen China hotels have dropped out of the Sofitel network in the past few years. In fact, the group's total number of properties worldwide has decreased from 206 in 2007 to the current 120. “We reduced the network to build it back up again and we will continue to build up in China and all around Asia-Pacific,” said Robert Gaymer-Jones, Sofitel’s new global chief executive.
When asked whether the increasingly affluent China market would experience its Legend brand – Sofitel’s ultra-luxury line launched in July 2009 with the reopening of Hotel Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi – Gaymer-Jones said it would be up to fate. “The difficulty with Legend is you have to find a legendary property, and they are rare anywhere in the world. It has to be a real palace, a hotel of historical significance and with a story to it, it can’t be just an old building,” he said.
Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam reopened last week with the new status after two years of renovation work led by French interior architect Sybille de Margerie. It is the group's first Europe property in the luxury line and second in the world. Other hotels set to join ranks are the Old Cataract in Aswan (Egypt), Palais Jamaï in Fez (Morocco), Santa Clara in Cartagena (Colombia), the Winter Palace in Luxor (Egypt) and The Cecil in Alexandria (Egypt). Gaymer-Jones said the number of Legend hotels would likely be capped at around 10.
Although there is no confirmed plan to open a Legend hotel in China or another one in Asia-Pacific, possibilities are being discussed. T Markland Blaiklock, senior vice-president of Sofitel Asia-Pacific said: “We do have a property in Xi’an, a complex where it is a Sofitel in two structures, and behind the Sofitel is an old heritage building the Russians constructed. On one side is an ornate theatre – a beautifully restored building – and on the other, it was originally a restaurant and we have preserved the entrance. Behind the entrance is a brand-new convention facility. We are trying to convince the owner to upgrade the old Russian building to Legend status.”
Talks are likely to continue for a while before anything materialises, as the upgrade is expected to be sizable. The Grand's refurbishment was said to have cost €47 million (US$68 million).
But the hotel group is looking to aggressively expand in the region with its SO by Sofitel line of lifestyle properties. There are currently two in Mauritius and Bangkok respectively, with the third slated to open in Mumbai later this year. Each is designed with the involvement of an internationally renowned designer, with Kenzo Takada and Christian Lacroix being the two named so far.
“We feel that there is opportunity for SO in Asia-Pacific because it’s trendy and it has all the things people in the region like… they like fashion, they like design and they like this kind of new-style properties, because there are many traditional properties in this market and they want something different,” Gaymer-Jones said. “SO is not a pure business hotel product, it’s really a lifestyle product. You don’t have the large meeting space like you see in other products.”
Cities where Sofitel is looking into for their next SO properties include Singapore and Shanghai.
For more information, visit www.sofitel.com
Reggie Ho
