IBIS Singapore on Bencoolen, a three-star hotel, has been sold just 18 months after it opened its doors.

Details were not disclosed but it is understood a Singapore private investor paid a figure above $200 million for it.

The hotel was put up for sale via a private tender in June by joint owners LaSalle Investment Management and French hotel group Accor.

They announced the sale yesterday, but did not disclose the price or purchaser ‘due to confidentiality obligations’.

It is the largest Ibis outside Europe, with 538 rooms, two retail outlets, 68 parking spaces, and two food and beverage outlets. The hotel will continue to be managed by Accor under a long-term management contract for its economy brand Ibis.

LaSalle’s international director, Mr Andrew Heithersay, said the hotel’s occupancy rate is in the ‘mid 90 per cent range’ and the average room rate is about $140.

An industry expert, Mr David Ling, HVS Asia Pacific managing director, said: ‘The room rate is higher than that for the usual economy hotels here. It is the first economy hotel of international standard here and has a contemporary design, so the transacted price would reflect the stronger income position. Generally, international-grade hotels here are expected to trade at a 6 per cent to 7 per cent yield,’ he said.

The hotel sale was brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. Its managing director of investment sales in Asia, Mr Michael Batchelor, said he could not disclose the buyer’s identity but that there was interest not only from Singapore investors but also from groups in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand.

‘In 2009, many industry observers felt the market was going to go though a challenging period with the large amount of supply and dwindling arrivals,’ he said. ‘The complete opposite has happened 12 months on… Singapore is now one of the strongest markets in Asia.’

He said most hotels here are running at 90 per cent occupancy even after 6,000 rooms were added in the past year.

‘Around the region, we are seeing a renewed interest in hotels… With hotel profitability returning, hotel values are expected to rise in the future.’

The hotel was 70 per cent-owned by LaSalle via its LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund II and 30 per cent by Accor.

Source: Straits Times, 3 Aug 2010

A subsidiary of Grand Line Int’l has paid over $200m for hotel: sources

(SINGAPORE) Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen, a three-star hotel that opened last year, has been sold for more than $200 million to a Singaporean buyer.

Hospitality group Accor and real estate investor LaSalle Investment Management said in a statement yesterday that they have sold the 538-room hotel. The partners did not disclose the sale price or the identity of the purchaser due to confidentiality obligations.

But sources told BT that a subsidiary of Singapore-based Grand Line International has paid more than $200 million for the property.

According to past reports, Accor and LaSalle put in $145 million to develop the hotel at Bencoolen Street after winning the tender for the site in 2006 in a 30:70 venture. The hotel opened in February 2009.

Accor, which owns the Ibis brand, will continue to manage the hotel under a long-term management contract.

‘The sale of the hotel is in line with Accor’s ‘asset right’ strategy where the value of the property is being realised with Accor continuing to manage the hotel with the Ibis brand, under a long-term management contract,’ said Michael Issenberg, chairman and chief operating officer of Accor Asia Pacific.

Accor and LaSalle put up Ibis Singapore for sale through a private tender that began in May. The owners decided to formally offer the hotel for sale after receiving a number of unsolicited offers from investors.

Ibis Singapore now enjoys occupancies in the mid-90 per cent range and an average room rate of about $140, LaSalle said. In addition to the comprising 538 guest rooms, the property also has two retail outlets, two food and beverage outlets and 68 carpark lots.

‘Singapore lacked quality inventory of economy hotel rooms, despite strong inbound demand from value-conscious travellers in Asia. Although around 80 per cent of travellers fly economy class, some 90 per cent of hotels rooms in Singapore were business or first class, so there was a clear market mismatch which we capitalised on,’ said Andrew Heithersay, international director at LaSalle Investment Management.

Ibis Singapore is Grand Line International’s first hotel asset in Singapore. BT understands that the company, which used to be in the shipping business, owns some properties in Australia.

Source: Business Times, 3 Aug 2010

Group to expand its portfolio by over 50% in next five yrs

CAPITALAND’S service residence arm, The Ascott Limited, is expanding its portfolio by more than 50 per cent in the next five years.

The division hopes to contribute more significantly to CapitaLand as it grows – perhaps accounting for as much as 20 per cent of group earnings in future.

Ascott chief executive Lim Ming Yan shared these plans for ‘transformational change’ with the media, in conjunction with the launch of the group’s project – Ascott Huai Hai Road Shanghai. The 278-unit property near the Xintiandi entertainment district is owned by Hong Kong-listed real estate group Lai Fung Holdings.

Ascott now has some 26,000 service residence apartments in its portfolio and it aims to raise this number to 40,000 by 2015.

The target is achievable looking at Ascott’s rate of growth, Mr Lim said. This year, the firm will be rolling out about 3,100 apartments. Of these, some 1,600 units across seven properties will be ready in the second half, in countries such as China and Indonesia.

Much of the envisioned growth will come from China. Ascott has just won contracts to manage four Ascott-branded properties in Ningbo, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guangzhou. The biggest among these will be Ascott Guangzhou IFC, with 314 units, due to open next year.

South-east Asia is likely to be the next fastest growing market for Ascott. For instance, Mr Lim is positive about Singapore’s service apartment sector as the country develops as a regional business centre.

Occupancy rates for Ascott’s properties in Singapore exceed 90 per cent, and ‘we are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities’, he said.

India and Europe are also on Ascott’s radar. It could enter Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and the east European countries.

While merely taking on more management contracts is a fast way to grow, Ascott will continue to focus more on buying and running properties.

It owns and manages about 67 per cent of its portfolio, and is prepared to invest in key gateway cities, Mr Lim said.

Ascott could obtain capital for growth from private equity funds, such as the Ascott China Fund. It could also sell assets to Ascott Residence Trust for funds to re-invest.

Mr Lim did not say how much the entire portfolio expansion would cost.

But he disclosed that Ascott will invest $50 million to refurbish more than 10 of its properties in Asia and Europe over the next 12 months. This is on top of around $20 million it has put in to renovate some properties such as Somerset Liang Court.

As Ascott grows, it ‘can and should be a significant part of CapitaLand’, Mr Lim said. On average, it has accounted for some 10 per cent of the group’s earnings in the last few years, but it would be possible and ‘more meaningful’ to raise this to up to 20 per cent, he added.

Source: Business Times, 2 Aug 2010

Pacifica Partners may gain up to 36% stake in fund set up by Accor and InterGlobe

(SINGAPORE) Pacifica Partners, a hotel investment firm linked to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), will buy a stake in a hotel fund with assets valued at US$325 million.

Pacifica Partners’ equity interest could go up to 36 per cent, subject to regulatory approvals.

The hotel fund is being set up by hospitality group Accor and travel corporation InterGlobe Enterprises, each of which will hold a 32 per cent equity stake. The fund’s portfolio will comprise seven hotels with a total of 1,750 rooms in the Indian cities of Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai. These are at various stages of construction and will open their doors from next year to 2013.

Accor will manage the hotels under its brands. They include Novotel Delhi International Airport (400 rooms), Pullman Delhi International Airport (270 rooms), Novotel Bangalore Outer Ring Road (220 rooms) and Ibis Bangalore Outer Ring Road (330 rooms). The fund may acquire more assets down the track, and will focus on the upper mid-end and high-end hotel segments.

‘The investment of Pacifica in this fund provides a platform for further growth in the strategic market of India where Accor and InterGlobe have already created an extensive development pipeline,’ said Accor chairman and CEO Gilles Pelisson.

Accor, joining hands with InterGlobe, has been in India for five years and has opened eight hotels. Another 43 will be coming up in the country.

‘India, at this time, is one of the most attractive lodging growth opportunities in the world,’ said Pacifica Partners managing director Peter Meyer. The firm ‘views this fund as an excellent vehicle to take advantage of this compelling market by teaming up with Accor and InterGlobe’.

Pacifica Partners is a joint venture between GIC and Host Hotels & Resorts. The latter owns luxury and high-end hotels worldwide, under brands such as Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The tie-up will seek investments in the Asia-Pacific, either existing hotels and resorts, or development projects

Source: Business Times, 22 Jul 2010

W Hotels Worldwide and Indonesian company Dua Cahaya Anugrah (DCA) launched The Residences at W Bali-Seminyak yesterday at St Regis Hotel Singapore.

The 79-unit villa-style development is next to the 158-room W Bali Hotel.

The 79 units consist of 65 one-bedroom units of 2,422 to 3,068 sq ft, 10 two-bedroom units of 3,789 sq ft and four three-bedroom villas of 6,708 to 7,669 sq ft.

Prices range between US$605 and US$800 per sq ft – which equates to about US$1.5 million for the most affordable villa.

According to a DCA spokesperson, this is about a 5 to 10 per cent premium to other projects around Seminyak.

The development is freehold for Indonesian citizens and leasehold for foreigners, based on the current ownership laws in Indonesia. DCA lawyers are available to advise foreigners on the types of ownership available to foreigners.

The project, which was launched in Indonesia about three months ago, is almost 60 per cent sold. Most of the buyers are the Indonesians. Reportedly, three one-bedroom villas have already been sold to Singaporeans.

A catch is the concept of ownership – the villas will form part of W Hotel’s rental pool and will be looked after by the hotel’s management team for 48 weeks of the year. The villa owners will be allocated exclusive access to their property for four weeks a year.

At a news conference yesterday, DCA said owners can expect an internal rate of return in excess of 5 per cent from their property’s rental income.

The development was designed by SCDA Architects, which has done numerous high-end developments in Singapore.

There will be a public viewing at St Regis Hotel over the weekend, from 10am to 7pm.

W Hotel Worldwide is a brand in the Starwood stable, which includes St Regis, Sheraton, Le Meridien and Westin.

The brand was started in 1998 with the opening of W New York. Since then it has expanded rapidly. Currently, Starwood is the only hotel chain with a dedicated ‘residential’ team that helps developers with projects.

In Singapore, City Developments has launched W Residences on Sentosa. In May, two units were sold at a median price of $2,800 psf.

Source: Business Times, 17 Jul 2010

Other projects include Hong Leong’s launch of The Scala in Serangoon

A NEW development is about to inject some freshness to the historic area of Chinatown. The Tang Group of Companies will be building Dorsett Regency Hotel and Dorsett Residences at a 99-year hotel site at New Bridge Road.

Agents have started gathering interest for the 68-unit Dorsett Residences, and they say it could be previewed at the end of this month. The six-storey project will have one, two and two-plus-one bedroom units, starting from 484 sq ft in size. Prices are said to be in the region of $1,700-$1,900 psf.

According to agents, residents will be able to tap on concierge services from Dorsett Regency Hotel next door.

Tang Group’s website provides more details. It says the 10-storey hotel will have 285 rooms, a swimming pool and a landscape deck. The entire hotel-residential development will have a direct link to Outram Park MRT station.

Tang Group is headed by Dennis Chiu, of the Chiu family that used to run the former Tang Dynasty City in Jurong.

The firm bagged the hotel site through a state tender which closed in September last year. Zoning guidelines allow developers to set aside as much as 40 per cent of a hotel site’s total floor area for commercial and residential uses.

Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han believes that Dorsett Residences should be popular, given its location. He suggests that medical tourists who frequent Singapore General Hospital nearby may consider buying units for their own occupation when they are in town.

He adds that for developers, hotels are a longer term investment compared with homes. Developers would be able to recover some capital more quickly by incorporating and selling residences in hotel sites.

Another residential project that is coming up is The Scala. Hong Leong Holdings plans to launch the 99-year leasehold 468-unit development at Serangoon Avenue 3 at the end of the month.

There will be one to four-bedders, ranging from 474 to 2142 sq ft in size. Hong Leong has yet to determine the number of units and prices for the launch. Based on caveats lodged, units at Chiltern Park nearby were sold at $735-761 psf in May.

‘The Scala was designed with the family in mind,’ said Hong Leong’s sales and marketing head Betsy Chng. The project will have seven pavillions, providing facilities such as a wood-fired pizza oven for residents.

Over at Cairnhill Road, private previews of CapitaLand’s Urban Resort Condominium have started since May. According to Urban Redevelopment Authority data, 12 units have been sold. Of these, four units changed hands in June at a median price of $2,733 psf.

Source: Business Times, 17 Jul 2010

Plans for former Specialists’ Shopping Centre and Hotel Phoenix site include 500 hotel rooms, 224,000 sq ft of retail space

A NEW shopping and hotel destination is set to take the Orchard shopping belt by storm in 2013. On offer are 500 hotel rooms and about 224,000 sq ft of retail space, as well as two open plazas for busking and artist performances.

This is the plan unveiled by United Engineers Ltd during the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for the site that previously housed the Specialists’ Shopping Centre and Hotel Phoenix complex – which has a gross floor area (GFA) of 538,196 sq ft. The development is designed by internationally-renowned architectural firm Tange Associates.

The property group was appointed by OCBC to build the shopping cum hotel destination in June through an arrangement that allows OCBC to retain ownership of the prime Orchard Road property after the redevelopment is complete.

Directly opposite this refurbished shopping and lifestyle destination is the 218 Orchard Road site (previously the home of Orchard Emerald). Like its sister sitting on the other side of the road, the site, which occupies a GFA of 104,410 sq ft, will be developed into an 11-storey building with two basement floors. About 37,674 sq ft of space will be devoted to offices, while 29,063 sq ft will be retail space. The site will be developed by OCBC’s insurance subsidiary Great Eastern Life, and UEL will act as project manager.

To provide a seamless way for pedestrians to make their way to and from the two destinations and to the Somerset train station, a glass pedestrian bridge linking the development to the property sitting opposite – formerly Orchard Emerald – is also in the works by UEL. It will also be constructing an underpass that will help to link the hotel cum retail property to the Orchard Emerald site. The redevelopment of the Specialists’ Shopping Centre site, along with the construction of the glass bridge and underpass, is slated for completion in the second quarter of 2013.

OCBC said that the total development costs for both properties is about $700 million, with about $150 million to be spent on the old Orchard Emerald site.

Said Jackson Yap, group managing director and chief executive of UEL on the former Specialists’ Centre development: ‘Its unique architecture that straddles both sides of Orchard Road, and with the glass overhead bridge, will offer a new postcard view of Orchard Road.

‘With the glass overhead bridge, the Orchard Road Christmas Light-up will also have new decorative possibilities. We strive to create a new focal point in Orchard Road that will be buzzing with activity and excitement.’

Source: Business Times, 17 Jul 2010

SINGAPORE-listed Hotel Grand Central has signed conditional agreements to buy an Australian hotel and its business for A$47 million (S$55.1 million).

The price for the Courtyard by Marriott Surfers Paradise, Queensland, works out to about A$116,000 per room. The freehold four-star hotel, which has 405 rooms, is located at the corner of Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Hanlan Street, Surfers Paradise. It forms part of Centro Surfers Paradise – the largest shopping centre in the district.

‘A comprehensive review of the hotel will be undertaken with a view to re-branding the property as Hotel Grand Chancellor, Surfers Paradise, upon settlement,’ Hotel Grand Central said yesterday in a statutory filing with Singapore Exchange.

The 31-storey hotel, which has a restaurant and two bars, five conference and meeting rooms, a gymnasium and pool, is being sold by Marriott Vacation Club, BT understands.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels brokered the transaction.

Hotel Grand Central said the purchase is subject to it being satisfied that the property is suitable for its requirements, following due diligence.

The acquisition, when completed, will expand the group’s portfolio of Australian hotels to eight. It already has properties in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Tasmania.

Hotel Grand Central also owns four hotels in New Zealand and two in Singapore, at Kramat Lane in the Orchard Road area and Belilios Road in Little India.

It said that had the acquisition of Courtyard by Marriott Surfers Paradise taken place at the start of the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009, its earnings per share for the year would have been 7.64 cents, up from 7.47 cents pre-acquisition.

Source: Business Times, 7 Jul 2010

Park Regis hotel opening in Sept; Leisure Inn plans on drawing board

AUSTRALIA-BASED StayWell Hospitality Group is looking to stamp its Park Regis and Leisure Inn brands on more properties in Singapore and the rest of Asia.

The first Park Regis hotel here is set to open in September, and the group also has the country’s first Leisure Inn hotel on the drawing board.

StayWell may be rather new to Singapore, but it is not venturing unassisted. The group’s chairman is Asok Kumar Hiranandani, who built up property firm Royal Brothers with his brother, Raj Kumar.

Park Regis Investments – in which Mr Asok Kumar Hiranandani is a shareholder – won the bid for a piece of state land at Merchant Road in 2007. It has invested around $175 million in total to build the 203-room four-star Park Regis Singapore, as well as a seven-storey office block, on the site.

The hotel is targeting business travellers and room rates could start in the range of $200. StayWell is expecting an occupancy rate of 70-80 per cent. Talks to lease the office space out are underway.

The hotel will be a ‘stunning investment’ in the next few years, Mr Hiranandani told The Business Times. His confidence stems from the hotel’s location near Clarke Quay and from the opening of the two integrated resorts.

To stand out from the competition, Park Regis Singapore will incorporate ‘bits of Singaporean and Australian flavours’, said StayWell CEO and managing director Simon Wan. For a start, it has picked an Australian, Jason Dowd, as the hotel’s general manager.

‘We will make sure that from the composition of the food, the composition of the wine, the television channels in the room to the staff uniforms, there will be some Australian flavour complemented by local themes,’ Mr Wan said.

There are generally few good hotels up for sale in Singapore, so those on the market tend to generate interest among investors and observers. According to Mr Hiranandani, Park Regis Singapore has already attracted investors’ interest.

‘If someone gives us a management contract back for at least 15 years, we’ll be more than happy to sell the hotel . . . The intention of bringing the brand to Singapore was to take it out of Australia and expand it to Asia,’ he said.

‘But I’d rather open the hotel first and get the income going. If it’s an attractive price, we’ll take the offer and buy another site.’

StayWell hopes to follow up with another hotel here under the three-star Leisure Inn brand. The Park Regis and Leisure Inn lines will complement each other, Mr Wan said, adding that there is strong demand for well-located and well-managed hotels in the three-star market.

He cited the success of Ibis Singapore as an example. The hotel, managed by another hospitality group Accor, opened in February last year and has achieved an above 90 per cent occupancy rate in the last three months.

But StayWell will not be rushing into any deal just so it can set up the Leisure Inn hotel. ‘Because of high land costs, we have to be very careful in approaching this,’ Mr Hiranandani said.

StayWell has 24 hotels in its portfolio and owns 14 of them. The group is looking to expand in Asia, and is in negotiations to buy 38 hotels in China.

Mr Hiranandani also said that he has bigger plans for StayWell but declined to elaborate. All he shared was: ‘We are the only unlisted hotel operator out there.’

So is StayWell eyeing a public listing? Mr Hiranandani’s son Bobby, who has been involved in the day-to-day running of his father’s hospitality business, said: ‘There are many options we are looking at. A listing is somewhat possible down the road.’

Source: Business Times, 29 Jun 2010

A new breed is standing out from the masses with designer details and special perks

(NEW YORK) A new breed of hotels is trying to stand out from the masses with designer details and memorable perks and prices around US$250 a night.

Finding a decent place to sleep in New York City has never been easy. Traditionally, you either had to spend a tonne of money (the Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons for US$35,000 a night, anyone?) or scrimp and hope for the best (warning: a recent search for ‘bed bugs’ on TripAdvisor found 877 mentions for city hotels).

What is a budget and style-conscious traveller to do? Go for the new middle. In a city that still boasts one of the nation’s highest room rates (US$238 on average in Manhattan, according to Smith Travel, which tracks the industry), hotels aiming for the midrange are reaching new heights.

The trend began about three years ago, with a trickle of boutiquey places like the Pod, the Ace and the Jane – which offered a patina of style without the premium prices. It has accelerated in recent months, with a raft of new hotels promising cool design, nods to local flavour and wallet-friendly rates of about US$200 to US$250.

Call them budget boutiques. But instead of coming from daring young hoteliers, many are being rolled out by chains like InterContinental and Wyndham in a bid to attract a hipper clientele.

‘There’s a huge wave of consumer demand, especially with the younger Gen Y or millennials, for properties that have some level of style to them,’ said Sean Hennessey, founder of Lodging Advisors, a hospitality consultant firm.

In May, I slept in some of these new hotels. Despite their novelty, some were already victims of their own cliches. Rooftop bars, rainfall showers and iPhone docks were everywhere. Still, rooms were large by the city’s pint-size standards, service was sharp, and for the moment, they offer some of the best values around.

Distrikt Hotel

Why book? On an exhaust-choked block next to the Port Authority bus station, three new cookie-cutter hotels are stacked together like cereal boxes in a configuration that hotel bloggers have started calling a ‘tri-pack’. Distrikt, next door, is different: It has a simulacrum of soul. This is impressive, not only because of its unseemly location – within shouting distance of a homeless shelter and a parole office – but also a kitschy design conceit: Every floor takes its cue from a New York City neighbourhood.

Room: My standard room was on the 28th floor: Central Park. Don’t expect a wax statue of Frederick Law Olmsted. The only nods to the famous park were photo collages that hung in the room and hallways.

Needless to say, the actual park wasn’t visible from the window, though tantalising glimpses of the Hudson River were. The room itself was a beige rectangle furnished with the type of inoffensive contemporary furniture one might find in a West Elm catalogue.

Vibe: Blame the sketchy neighbours, but parts of the hotel feel as though they’re under lockdown. Key cards are needed to operate the elevators, and the marble-and-steel lobby is a tad cold, despite a 12-foot vertical garden. An adjacent lounge, called Collage, looks like a modern airport bistro. It serves breakfast by day, and drinks and bar food by night. On a recent Friday evening, it was empty. ‘This is New York City,’ said the young bartender. ‘Who wants to stay inside their hotel?’

Mints: An organic fudge brownie awaits you in the room, along with a personalised welcome letter – nice touches for a hotel of this class. There’s no fitness centre, but free passes are available to the nearby Mid City Gym. You can check your e-mail on one of three large Mac screens in the lobby, but be prepared to wait.

342 West 40th Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues; (888) 444-5610; distrikthotel.com; free Wi-Fi; breakfast for US$14.95; 155 rooms from US$209.

Eventi Hotel

Why book? Straddling the higher end is the Eventi, a 292-room hotel that opened last month in northern Chelsea. Operated by Kimpton – a San Francisco-based chain that helped pioneer the budget boutique niche – it offers doses of luxury that are unusual at this price range. There’s clever design, 24-hour room service, a large terrace, a sunny gym, a spa that offers something called spirulina body wraps, and even dog and cat massages.

Room: The standard queen was sleek and handsome, with custom-made furnishings (dark woods, cloud-gray upholstery, heavy drapes) that felt rich. It had a risque side: a huge mirror faced the bed, Frette robes were trimmed with zebra prints, the honour bar was stocked with an Intimacy Kit (US$6). Other high-end perks await in the marble-tiled bathroom. There was an elongated tub, a magnifying makeup mirror and bottles of musk-scented Italian hair products.

Vibe: It’s a work in progress. Planned for October are a Basque restaurant by Jeffery Chodorow, a plaza with a movie screen and whiskey bar. Meanwhile, the lobby – with cave-red marble and quirky seating nooks – fills up during the free wine hour that begins at 5pm. For breathing room, take your glass to the wraparound terrace on the fifth floor, furnished with terra-cotta planters and oversize wicker love seats.

Mints: No Pringles here. The minibar was stocked with goodies like blueberry acai Gummy Pandas (US$4), Late July organic crackers (US$3), and Alba Botanica shave cream (US$5). There’s even a 375-millilitre bottle of Absolut vodka, big enough for an impromptu party. Service was polished. A free toothbrush and hair straightener were delivered in less than five minutes.

851 Avenue of the Americas, between 29th and 30th streets; (212) 564-4567; eventihotel.com; Wi-Fi is US$10 per day (free for Kimpton rewards members); a breakfast buffet is US$22; 292 rooms starting at US$249 (at US$399 once introductory rates finish in fall)

Fashion 26

Why book? A quick step from the Fashion Institute of Technology, this shiny new hotel by Wyndham tries hard to live up to its name.

There’s a Best Dressed Guest contest held occasionally (winners get room upgrades), the Mondrian-like mural above the front desk is made from thread spools, and the concierge keeps tabs on sample sales. No, you won’t see a gaggle of models during check-in, but the hotel does have fun playing dress-up.

Room: A standard room was maybe a size medium, with plenty of nods to fashion: buttons on the door numbers, a merino herringbone throw on the bed and mint-green polka dots on the walls. Housekeeping staff members wear custom dresses that hint, naughtily, at French maid. A big window offered postcard views of the Empire State Building, as well as peeks inside garment showrooms across the street.

Vibe: Despite all the sartorial trappings, guests dressed like any in your typical off-the-rack hotel. On a recent Monday, there were FIT parents in the slate-gray lobby, and suits trading airport stories in the elevator. There’s a chatty cocktail scene at the lobby bar, but Rare, the fiery orange dining room, was desolate. Maybe the ho-hum menu – part burger joint, part formal steakhouse – was to blame. A rooftop bar is expected to open this month.

Mints: Service was elegant and unobtrusive. Arriving two hours before check-in was no problem; the attendant had a room ready. Come back from dinner and the bed is turned down: the pillows stacked upright, the comforter removed, a note left on the sheets with tomorrow’s weather, and a mint. There’s also a decent gym in the basement and a single-cup Keurig coffee maker in the room.

152 West 26th Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh avenues; (212) 858-5888; f26nyc.com; free Wi-Fi and a US$15 cold and US$19.70 hot breakfast buffet, along with à la carte; 280 rooms from US$229.

Hotel Indigo

Why book? Hotel Indigo may be the prototype of this new hotel class. Started by the InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns Holiday Inn and other chains, the Indigo brand aims to be affordable yet stylish, though its first property in New York City doesn’t quite hit the mark. It opened last October in the heart of the flower district, so it is hemmed on all sides with orchids and pussy willow.

There are flowers inside the hotel, too, though mostly of the printed variety. Hallway carpets with comically giant indigos and carrot-orange walls conspire to create a visual jungle. Too bad the floral theme didn’t extend to the scent. The lobby smelled more like cleaning fluid than roses.

Room: The oversaturated colour scheme continued inside the room, with a headboard stitched together from swatches of reds, oranges and yellows. Still, the room was bright and airy, with hardwood floors, a small desk and a floor-to-ceiling print of sewing needles. The view was quintessentially New York: fire escapes and the back of old factory buildings. As in many of these budget boutiques, the bathroom was sleekly appointed. In this case, however, the shower lacked water pressure, and a puddle from the previous night was still on the shower floor in the morning.

Vibe: An oddball mix. Foreign tourists in I (HEART) New York T-shirts sat in the lobby. Office workers crowded the smoky rooftop Glass Bar. And at Blu, its street-level Italian restaurant, there was, well, no one. The soupy risotto I was served one night may have something to do with it.

Mints: Service was unexpectedly attentive; the front desk called shortly after check-in to make sure everything was in order. In the basement, there’s a basic business centre (two desktop computers) and a well-equipped, if petite, fitness studio with free weights and treadmills.

127 West 28th Street, between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue; (212) 973-9000; indigochelsea.com; 122 rooms from US$269; US$15.99 breakfast buffet, and à la carte brunch served on weekends. — NYT

Source: Business Times, 22 Jun 2010