Rendezvous To Make Its Marque In Shanghai

Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International has announced the signing of a management agreement for a new hotel to be built in Shanghai, China’s leading economic and financial hub.

The 4 star, two hundred room hotel, to be opened under Rendezvous’ The Marque Collection of Hotels brand, will be named the Marque Hotel Yu Garden, Shanghai and is due to open in mid-2009.

This is the second property to be announced under the Marque brand in China, after the Marque Hotel, Guilin, which will open later this year.

The new hotel will complement Rendezvous’ existing property, Rendezvous Merry Hotel, Shanghai which has operated successfully since 2004. The agreement, signed today at Rendezvous Merry Hotel, Shanghai, represents another key step for Rendezvous in its strategic expansion plans into China.

Rendezvous’ Chief Executive, Mr Alan Featherby, says, “We are excited to be expanding the Marque brand in China with our latest hotel to be opened in the progressive and vibrant city of Shanghai. This distinctive hotel will heighten the Rendezvous group’s presence and brand in China, placing us in a strong position to benefit from the lead-up to World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. We are delighted to be working with the developers, Shanghai Sin Tat Lee Property Development Company Limited and confident that the Marque Hotel Yu Garden, Shanghai will be well received in Shanghai and capitalise upon the forecasted growth and appeal of Shanghai as an international tourist destination. We also have a number of other projects underway and plan to have at least 15 more hotels and resorts signed in the Asia Pacific region within the next 3 years.”

The hotel’s developer and owner, Shanghai Sin Tat Lee Property Development Company Limited, established in 1994, will incorporate the Marque Hotel Yu Garden, Shanghai into a 17 storey, multi-use complex, comprising 3 apartment buildings and a shopping mall on the podium levels. Centrally located on He Nan Road South, just a few hundred meters away from the famous Yu Gardens (one of the most famous landmarks in Shanghai) and 1.5 km from the Bund Area, the hotel is close to Shanghai’s CBD and main shopping areas such as Huai Hai Road, only 30 minutes from Hong Qiao Airport (domestic Airport), 50 minutes from Pudong International Airport and 20 minutes from Shanghai’s main railway station. Hotel facilities will include a café, lobby bar and conference rooms. A gym, out-door swimming pool and other leisure facilities will be located in a Club House on levels 6 and 7 of the hotel building and will also be available to apartment tenants.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Commission, the hotel market in Shanghai is expected to continue its robust growth and the attraction of strong foreign investment into the country, further driving commercial demand within the lodging segment. Shanghai’s transportation and infrastructure is currently undergoing a massive modernisation programme in the quest to become one of the world’s leading economic, finance, trade and transport centres.

Shanghai was fabled in the 1930s as the Paris of the east, China’s most modern metropolis, a haven for intellectuals and gangsters, colonials and radicals, the new rich and the ultra-poor. To further enhance the city’s appeal as a leading tourist destination for the new millennium, the government has expanded its tourism products. Similar to Beijing, the World Expo will be an opportunity for Shanghai to showcase its development since the opening of the economy and instantly create global consumer awareness of Shanghai’s MICE facilities, such as the New International Exposition Centre. With major events such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Tennis Masters Cup, the development of Shanghai’s events market will become an increasingly important driver of hotel demand.

Today Shanghai is once again China’s most exciting and sophisticated city. A city to be walked, wandered, explored and discovered; where ‘old’ China meets ‘new’ China. From wonderful museums and temples to a scintillating nightlife, fantastic shopping and a dazzling array of cuisines Shanghai truly ‘has it all’. The Marque Yu Garden Hotel Shanghai is set to make its mark in developing tourism and business travel to Shanghai.

Rendezvous Hotels International Pte Ltd is part of the Singapore listed company, The Straits Trading Company Limited. The Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International group operates a total of 19 hotels existing or under construction in the Asia-Pacific region:

• Rendezvous Observation City Hotel, Perth
• Rendezvous Sanctuary Resort, Cable Beach, Broome
• Rendezvous Allegra Hotel, Adelaide
• Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne
• Rendezvous Stafford Hotel, Sydney
• Rendezvous Hotel, Brisbane
• Rendezvous Reef Resort, Port Douglas
• Rendezvous Hotel, Singapore
• Rendezvous Merry Hotel, Shanghai
• Rendezvous Hotel, Auckland
• Rendezvous Hotel, Christchurch (opening 2008)
• Rendezvous Hotel, Kuala Lumpur (opening 2009)
• The Marque Hotel, Brisbane
• The Marque Hotel, Sydney
• The Marque Hotel, Canberra
• The Marque Hotel, Melbourne
• The Marque Hotel, Guilin (opening 2008)
• The Marque Hotel, Fujairah (opening 2008)
• The Marque Yu Garden Hotel, Shanghai (opening 2009)

A Report by The Mole