GOSTELOW REPORT – Since the pipeline of hotels being developed by Swire Properties will be limited from now on, Deputy Chairman of Swire Hotels Brian Williams says he has approval from the board to explore opportunities to manage hotels for others.
Swire Hotels is 100% owned by London-based Swire Group, which operates in Asia Pacific as Swire Pacific. Its Hong Kong-based hotel division launched in 2008 with the opening of The Opposite House in Beijing. Today, there are seven open hotels – four in The House Collective and three East hotels. In total, there are 1,637 rooms and suites with about 3,000 full-time employees.
“Until now our business model has been solely to manage properties owned by Swire Hotels, but now we are open to management contracts for both East and The House Collective,” said Williams, whose brief is to focus on growth and development of the portfolio. “These will only be in strategic locations throughout Asia Pacific.”
There is, in fact, already one management contract with a part owner, but here connections could be cited. Swire Hotels manages The Headland Hotel at Hong Kong International Airport, a crew hotel for Cathay Pacific Airways, which is also a member of the Swire Group. The hotel is owned 50-50 by Cathay Pacific and Swire Hotels.
Why, it could be asked, should developers choose Swire over one of ‘the biggies’? As always, the highly articulate deputy chairman has an immediate response. “Swire Hotels is small by international standards, which means partners can expect direct contact with our senior leadership and access to the creative teams behind our brands,” Williams said. “Although we are relatively new, we can demonstrate above- average results within the current portfolio. In addition, we have a highly focused target of customers and all our hotels have a loyal following.”
Williams added that the group has already been asked by a number of developers to consider management agreements. “Greater international exposure will also open up career opportunities for the talented teams within the existing portfolio – our employees are considered one of our strongest assets,” he said.
Williams is also proud of Swire Hotels’ F&B record. Rather than Michelin, he wants great restaurants that pack in the locals, as is evident both in Hong Kong, at The Upper House’s Café Gray, and Miami, where East’s 359-seat Quinto La Huella is a highly-popular indoor-outdoor offshoot of Uruguay’s world-famous beach restaurant, Parador La Huella.
Looking forward a few years, Williams has no goal in terms of number of properties. “For us, it is more important to find the right projects with the right owners who share vision and strategy,” he said.
There will be partners who are excited by room size and rate of a House, and others who prefer to invest in smaller rooms and rates of an East. For the record, for the one night of May 1 in Hong Kong, an East room, average size 300 sq ft., is US$344, while at The Upper House, where rooms start at 730 sq ft., a room the same night is US$637.