Worldwide Hotels Rolls Out Large Scale Hotels Focuses Lean Luxury Concept
At the forefront of Worldwide Hotels, one of Singapore’s leading homegrown hospitality groups, is Carolyn Choo, who serves as both the chief executive and managing director. Her father, Choo Chong Ngen, initially established the company in 1993 with the launch of Hotel 81, a budget hotel chain that quickly gained widespread recognition. Forbes has ranked the 71-year-old hotelier as the 17th richest person in Singapore, with a net worth of US$3.1 billion ($4.2 billion).
Under Carolyn’s leadership, the hotel group has continued to dominate Singapore’s mid-tier and budget hospitality segment, with a portfolio of 41 hotel properties and over 8,600 rooms. Including its overseas properties, the group boasts 52 hotels with a total of 11,200 rooms.
Carolyn has her sights set on expanding the group’s presence in Singapore and the surrounding region. The recent opening of the 989-room Mercure Icon Singapore City Centre, the group’s flagship property, showcases its ambitions under the second-generation leadership of this homegrown entrepreneur.
Situated at 8 Club Street, the hotel holds the title of the largest Mercure hotel in the world. In the group’s portfolio, it is second in size only to the 1,500-room Hotel Boss.
Elevating “lean luxury”
“Our vision for Mercure Icon Singapore City Centre is to demonstrate our ability to provide affordable luxury at a high standard,” explains Carolyn. The hotel was designed on the concept of “lean luxury”, offering efficient and stylish spaces without breaking the bank.
The property has a prominent location along Cross Street and Club Street, right in the heart of Chinatown and adjacent to the CBD. It was built on the site of a former open-air public car park, which the group won through a government land sales (GLS) programme in 2019.
The winning bid of $562.2 million ($2,148 psf per plot ratio) was the highest among eight bidders at the close of the tender in January 2019. The site was highly sought after as it was the first GLS site for a hotel development in a decade, and it marked Worldwide Hotels’ first foray into a GLS tender.
“When this site was put up for sale, we saw it as an opportunity to establish a landmark property within our local portfolio,” says Choo. “We placed what we thought was the highest reasonable price based on our projected return on investment.” The hotel is now valued at over $1 billion.
Catering to the growth of “bleisure” travel
The conditions for the tender included building underground pedestrian links from the hotel to the Telok Ayer MRT Station, the Chinatown MRT Station (both on the Downtown Line), and the Cross Street Exchange office blocks across the road.
This connectivity makes the hotel an appealing option for a mix of business and leisure travellers, notes Carolyn.
The hotel boasts a variety of food and beverage options, such as L’antica Pizzeria da Michele, La Table d’Emma, Upward Taproom, TAG Espresso, and Ashino Restaurant along the street front. In the lobby is Kiara Café & Bar, while Chara Brasserie is located on the second level.
Carolyn sees Mercure Icon Singapore City Centre as well-positioned to capitalize on the growing trend of “bleisure” travel, where business and leisure activities are combined. She predicts that more corporate travellers will extend their stay in a city for leisure purposes. “There is still pent-up demand for travel following the Covid-19 pandemic, which will sustain demand in the mid-tier hospitality segment,” she adds.
Strengthening ties with Accor
Traditionally, the group’s hotels in Singapore are managed under one of its homegrown brands, such as Hotel 81, Value Hotel, Hotel Mi, Hotel Boss, and V Hotel. However, Worldwide Hotels Group owns and operates the Mercure Icon Singapore City Centre and Novotel Singapore on Kitchener under a franchise agreement with Accor. This partnership has allowed them to “enhance our collaboration with Accor and leverage their extensive membership base of over 27 million,” says Carolyn.
The first “co-branded hotel” under Worldwide Hotels Group, the Mercure Icon Singapore City Centre is also the first property to bear the Icon brand.
Accor already manages some of Worldwide Hotels’ properties overseas, such as Novotel Melbourne Central, Ibis Melbourne Central, and Ibis Styles Brisbane Elizabeth Street in Australia, and Ibis Budget Osaka Umeda in Japan. Carolyn believes that having an internationally renowned hotel brand managing their properties helps in driving cost efficiencies and enhancing the skill specialization of their staff.
Other notable developments include the purchase of the 530-room Novotel Singapore on Kitchener, which opened in November 2013. Formerly known as Parkroyal on Kitchener, the property was bought for $525 million in July 2023, making it the largest single hotel acquisition in Singapore that year and the second-largest in the Asia Pacific region. The hotel was previously owned by Pan Pacific Hotels Group, the hospitality arm of UOL Group.
Previously operating under the Parkroyal brand, the hotel was rebranded as Novotel Singapore on Kitchener following its acquisition by Worldwide Hotels. Likewise, the group has also rebranded nine of its hotels in Singapore, such as Venue Hotel The Lily, Venue Hotel, and Hotel Classic by Venue, which were formerly known as Hotel 81 properties.
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Expanding globally
Outside of Singapore, Worldwide Hotels has a presence in Australia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand, with 11 properties. Over the next five years, the group plans to double this number, with a focus on established cities such as Osaka and Tokyo in Japan and Melbourne in Australia.
Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Carolyn remains optimistic about the Singapore hospitality industry, with the majority of inbound travellers coming from Southeast Asia, China, India, and Europe.
She believes that their portfolio of mid-tier brands and wide range of hotel properties will cater well to the needs of these travellers and keep Worldwide Hotels Group at the forefront of the industry.