Bangkok-based hospitality branding agency Quo announced the launch of Wink Hotels, a luxury brand focusing on Vietnam and Indochina. The developer is Indochina Vanguard Hotels, which is a joint venture of Indochina Capital Corporation and Vanguard Hotels.
The first Wink hotel will open in Saigon’s District 1 in third-quarter 2019. “We will provide a consistent brand experience not only in primary markets such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang but also, over time, in many of Vietnam’s emerging secondary cities. Wink Hotels will have a nationwide footprint,” said Michael Piro, co-founder of Indochina Vanguard Hotels and CEO Chief of Indochina Land.
Wink is described as “daring, contemporary and avant-garde,” designed for “young aspirational travelers,” underpinned by traditional Vietnamese values. “We call this new generation ‘Indochine 2.0’,” said Peter R. Ryder, co-founder of Indochina Vanguard Hotels and CEO of Indochina Capital Corporation, according to a press release. “Wink speaks to its core by representing the power and tenacity of the Vietnamese identity, by catering to their fast-paced, ever-changing lifestyles and immersing them in the cultural depths of the destination.”
The hotels will feature multifunctional open-plan lobbies that offer food, beverages and entertainment, a library and retail space, minimalist-style guestrooms, in-room technology and co-working spaces. Hotels will also have automated check-in and offer downloadable itinerary guides to the local city. The food concept also will include vendor-style carts delivering local street food.
“Wink is one of those brands that has engaged all of us at QUO,” said Quo CEO David Keen. “It inspires us because it reflects a change in society in Vietnam and in Indochina – change that is happening as fast as a wink. The brand is fun, it’s entrepreneurial, it’s dynamic, it’s irreverent; it’s a brand that will be a catalyst for change for all of hospitality in Vietnam.”