Eight hotels, some star-rated, set to bring hospitality industry to new level by 2010

KUCHING: The hospitality industry here is expected to see a boom next year with the opening of several new star-rated hotels offering twice as many rooms as the current ones put together.

The number of hotel rooms is expected to double to about 2,000 units by next year with 80 per cent of them provided by the star-rated hotels.

CH Williams Talhar Wong & Yeo Sdn Bhd’s latest Sarawak Property Bulletin reported that the new hotels coming on stream here by 2010 are either three or four-star.

It said eight hotels, six of which are rated three stars or higher, were completed or expected to be completed in the state capital this year and in 2010.

It noted that recent open sky policies have enabled the servicing of the Kuching routes by low-cost carriers such as Tiger Airways, SilkAir and Jetstar, for international destinations like Singapore Macau and Indonesia.

In this respect, it said: “With improving air access to Kuching as the gateway to Sarawak and Sarawak’s increasing popularity as a tourist destination, more investors are now prepared to bring on room stock as soon as possible.”

It added that this would help alleviate seasonal shortages of rooms especially around major events such as the annual World Rainforest Music Festival and Miri International Jazz Festival.

The Bulletin went on to say that in the first quarter of this year, Four Points by Sheraton Kuching, a four-star hotel with 421 rooms, was officially opened. The hotel was developed by Global Upline Sdn Bhd and managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

The Bulletin said Global Upline was also planning to build another four-star 220-room hotel at Tabuan Road here and it was initially planned to be completed this year.

More recently, some existing shophouses at Taman Sri Sarawak Mall were taken over by Tune Hotels Regional Services Sdn Bhd and converted into a budget hotel in line with expansion plans for Tune Hotels.

Another existing five-storey building along Jalan Abell, the Bulletin said was undergoing renovation for a three-star hotel named ‘The LimeTree Hotel’. It is expected to open this year.

Other hotels under construction are Novotel Interhill at Jalan Mathies, Kuching Tower at the Kuching Isthmus and Plaza Merdeka at Jalan Barrack/Masjid. These properties are four-star hotels.

The Bulletin said work on the 388-room Novotel was nearing completion. The 23-storey building, which includes two retail floors, is developed by Permata Kenyalang Sdn Bhd and managed by Europe’s leading hotel group, ACCOR.

Kuching Tower, a 33-storey building, is being built in tandem with the construction of the Borneo Convention Centre. With works on the Convention Centre progressing well and due to open by 2009, the Kuching Tower is expected to begin construction any time soon.

The Bulletin said the hotel could occupy the top 18 floors of the building with the rest of the floors devoted to retail and other services.

“This integrated conven-tion and hotel centre aims to enable Kuching to host major national and regional conventions, expositions and trade shows which have been actively promoted by the Sarawak Convention Bureau set up in 2007,” it said.

Meanwhile, it said a three to four-star boutique business and tourist hotel was currently underway as part of the development plan for the Plaza Merdeka Complex sited at the old Kuching town centre.

The 290-room hotel was expected to be operational in the second half of next year. It is developed by Rakyat Elite Sdn Bhd with Times Metropolitan Sdn Bhd as the sales and leasing company.

The five new properties will double the number of four to five-star hotels here. The existing four to five-star rated hotels are Holiday Inn Kuching, which is now Grand Margherita Hotel; Crowne Plaza Riverside, which is now Riverside Majestic Hotel; Hilton Kuching and Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites, that collectively provide about 1,100 rooms.

Looking back at 2008, it said 95 rooms were added to the hospitality sector when the refurbished Hock Lee Centre Apartments was re-launched as 360 Hotel.

Another four-storey hotel, Dormani Hotel, along Jalan Datuk Ajibah Abol opposite the State Mosque was also opened as a hotel with a halal concept in July 2008, offering 72-security rooms.