Seri Pacific Hotel to undergo RM45m upgrade
Posted on | March 15, 2007
By VASANTHA GANESAN
BEST Western Premier Seri Pacific Hotel will undergo a RM45 million upgrade to better compete with the growing number of new hotels in the Klang Valley.
Once all the 560 rooms at the five-star hotel have been remade, the hotel operator Residence Hotels and Resorts Sdn Bhd (RHR) is hoping to raise its rates in line with the government’s call for a minimum US$80 (RM281.60) per night.
Last July, RHR took over the management of the hotel from Japan’s Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts. The owner of the hotel is Seri Pacific Corp Sdn Bhd.
RHR managing director Rohanna Ramli said that the owners of the hotel will fund the renovation with internal funds and borrowings.
A search at the Companies Commission of Malaysia revealed that shares in Seri Pacific Corp is held by RHB Nominees for Umno (85.88 per cent) and Malaysian Airline System Bhd (10.34 per cent) and the remainder by KRC Holding Sdn Bhd.
According to Rohanna, the hotel has only undergone minor refurbishment over the years.
Since the appointment of RHR, some 100 rooms have been renovated. Its signature spa Ledang will be added and major changes made to its restaurants.
This exercise is in line with the operator’s aim to convert the hotel into one that targets the business and meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (Mice) market from one that was focussed on leisure business.
“We want at least 60 per cent of our occupants to be from the business and Mice market,” she said.
Rohanna is confident that the hotel will be able to maintain its average occupancy rate of about 70 per cent next year, even after it introduces a new rate after the renovation is complete.
Meanwhile, Rohanna said that in the second half of last year, since RHR came into the picture, the hotel managed to achieve and even surpass the targets set by the Pan Pacific for 2006.
The affiliation with Best Western has helped as the hotel is able to leverage on Best Western’s vast global network. There are 4,300 Best Western hotels around the world, of which 120 are the premium brands (four- and five-star hotels).
“The Best Western affiliation has given us better exposure and better room rates as our rates are quoted in US dollars,” she said.
It was previously reported that Best Western International Inc, the company responsible for branding Seri Pacific globally, is confident of a 15-20 per cent increase in both occupancy and average room rates.
Best Western is based on a simple idea to unite independent hoteliers to promote their properties and increase profitability.
Residence Hotels and Resorts has entered into a five-year agreement with Best Western, which encompasses using the latter’s brand name and logo, marketing services, worldwide reservations, loyalty programme and other benefits and privileges.
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