Hotel reviews

Simon Cooper doesn’t immediately know the exact number of hotels he oversees as managing director of Marriott International Inc. for Asia-Pacific. “It changes everyday,” he explains. The last count was 130 Marriott hotels, including several under the Renaissance and Ritz-Carlton brands. Seventy more hotels are under development in Asia and an additional 110 are in the early planning stages. Half of these new properties will be in China; the rest being split evenly between India and Southeast Asia. More >

Hotels in the Asia/Pacific region experienced mostly positive results in the three key performance metrics during March 2011 when reported in U.S. dollars, according to data compiled by STR Global.

In year-over-year measurements, the Asia/Pacific region’s occupancy fell 3.5 percent to 66.5 percent, average daily rate increased 13.8 percent to US$144.04, and revenue per available room jumped 9.9 percent to US$95.77. More >

Japan earthquake, tsunami
In the days since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern Japan, the country received no mercy from the elements. More >

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has further strengthened its Asian network by undertaking management of the Mövenpick Resort & Spa Cebu in the Philippines with immediate effect. The property is located on its own private beach on Mactan Island. According to the company release, the range of room categories includes deluxe and executive rooms, as well as one and two-bedroom Executive Spa suites. The resort contains three executive floors and an executive lounge. In the F&B segment there are five restaurants and bars, with open kitchens designed by Dan Kwan. More >

Singaporeans paid an average of Sin$244 for a hotel room night in their own country in 2010, representing a 29% increase over 2009, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.

With the highest increase for hotel prices paid worldwide, Singapore ranks the fourth most expensive country globally for hotel rooms in 2010. The top three countries are Switzerland (Sin$258), France (Sin$256) and the United Kingdom (Sin$253). More >