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Hotel Properties Ltd. Business Information, Profile, and History

50 Cuscaden Rd., Ste. 08-01 HPL House
Singapore 249724
Singapore

Company Perspectives:

The Group is poised to expand its investments when opportunities arise.

History of Hotel Properties Ltd.

Singapore's Hotel Properties Ltd. (HPL) is a diversified property development group active in four primary areas: Hotels and Hotel Management; Development Properties; Investment Properties/Completed Properties for Sale; and Lifestyle, covering the group's restaurant, food distribution, retail and leisure interests. HPL's portfolio of hotels comprises some 20 hotels in nine countries, including Four Seasons hotels in Singapore, Indonesia, the Maldives, and the United Kingdom; Concorde Hotels in Australia and Malaysia; the Hilton Hotel in Singapore; Le Meridien hotels in Singapore and Vanuatu; and the Hard Rock hotel in Bali. The company's Properties portfolio focuses on the Singapore market, and includes Forum The Shopping Mall, and store units at the Meridien, Ming Arcade, and Orchard Plaza shopping centers. The company also owns four residential properties in Singapore, including the Cuscaden Residence, Four Seasons Park, Nassim Jade, and Robertson Blue. Lifestyle covers HPL's Asian franchise (excluding Japan) for the Hard Rock Café brand, and the company operates Hard Rock Cafes in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. Listed on the Singapore stock exchange, HPL remains controlled by founder and business tycoon Ong Beng Seng. In 2004, the company's sales topped SGD 320 million.

Founding a Property Group in the 1980s

Ong Beng Seng was born into a wealthy family in Malaysia, but the family moved to Singapore in 1950 when Ong was just four years old. Ong quickly displayed a talent for making money. Already by the early 1970s Ong had founded a business selling shipping insurance, earning his first fortune. Later described as a secretive, yet flamboyant tycoon (Ong became known as one of the leaders of the Singapore jet-set), Ong married Christina Ong, giving him a powerful father-in-law, Peter Fu Yun Siak. Fu's company, Kuo International, had started out as a timber and wax trader, before expanding into the oil market as well. Christina Ong, meanwhile, had begun building up a portfolio of designer brands--including the Armani franchise--later becoming known as the "Queen of Bond Street," given her extensive holdings in London's fashion center.

Ong Beng Seng joined Fu in business in 1975, emerging as a shrewd trader with a knack for spotting opportunities. In the early 1980s, Ong recognized the potential for entering the property market, and formed Hotel Properties Pte Ltd. in 1981 in order to lead Kuo International's acquisition of hotels and other properties. The company made its first purchase in 1982, acquiring the Hilton Hotel in Singapore. Later that same year, Hotel Properties was taken public with a listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange. At that time the company changed its name to Hotel Properties Ltd.

Through the 1980s, HPL activities revolved especially around property investments, as Ong led the company into the purchase of stakes in various high-profile properties. Such was the case with HPL's purchase of a 50 percent stake in Singapore's Four Seasons Hotel in 1984, in partnership with longtime business ally Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Prince Al Waleed also became an important investor in HPL.

At the start of the 1990s, HPL's hotel holdings remained quite modest, with just the Hilton and the Four Seasons in Singapore. Yet, as others were fleeing the depressed properties market at the beginning of the decade, the Ongs recognized a fresh opportunity to acquire and develop prestigious properties cheaply. In the early 1990s, the company lay the groundwork for two prominent London hotels, the Halkin, in London's Belgravia neighborhood, and the Metropolitan, also in the West End. HPL also became a prominent investor in the huge Canary Wharf development. Meanwhile, the Ongs continued to build up their stable of prominent designer franchises, including Donna Karan's DKNY, Miu Miu, Calvin Klein, Guess, and Bulgari, among others.

During the 1990s, HPL also extended its interests into the leisure sector, launching restaurant operations, such as the trendy Nobu, opened in the Metropolitan Hotel. Ong also became an investor in Planet Hollywood, joining with Al Waleed in order to rescue the troubled restaurant chain. From there, Ong went on to win the franchise for the Asian region (excluding Japan) for the Hard Rock Café chain, opening restaurants in Beijing, Hong Kong, Bali, Jakarta, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Makati, and Singapore. The company also joined in the launch of the new Hard Rock Hotel chain, backing the opening of the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya in Thailand and the Hard Rock Hotel in Bali. In 1995, also, HPL and Ong visited Australia, where the company picked up a number of properties on that country's Gold Coast, buying, among other sites, the Chevron Hotel for $30 million.

Asian Focus for the New Century

The Ongs appeared to have run into a wall in the late 1990s, as an economic crisis swept through the Asian region. In 1997, the Ongs began selling off a string of their assets, including the Donna Karan Japan franchise, HPL's 50 percent stake in the Four Seasons Hotel in London (sold to partner Al Waleed), and Ong's private jet.

News of the sellout sparked rumors that Ong's financial empire was collapsing, and HPL's share price dropped dramatically. Ong, who had long avoided personal publicity, was forced to hold a rare press conference in order to dispel rumors that his company and fortune were in trouble.

Indeed, the strategy behind the sell-off of the Ongs' and HPL's assets quickly became apparent. As property prices bottomed out in the Asian market, HPL had converted its assets into cash as the company launched its hotel and property interests into a new direction. In the late 1990s, HPL began buying up properties, franchises, and companies, including Concorde Hotels & Resorts, transforming the company into a prominent hotel ownership and management firm in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean markets. The Concorde Hotels purchase also played a part in HPL's plans to develop its Chevron Hotel site into a massive hotel and tavern complex.

In 2001, Concorde Hotels & Resorts changed its name to HPL Hotels & Resorts. The company's portfolio now included three HPL Hotels in Malaysia, an HPL Hotel development in Australia, the Hard Rock Hotel Franchise in Bali and Thailand, as well as hotels in the Maldives and the Cameron Highlands. The company also acquired Elegant Hotel Holding in 2000, launching the renovation of the Elegant Hotel complex in Australia. In 2001, the company decided not to pursue the renovation.

During this time, HPL had also targeted the fast-growing residential market in Singapore, guiding four major condominium developments, including Nassim Jade, launched in 1995, Four Seasons Park, Robertson Blue, and Cuscaden Residence. Another important area of investment was the shopping center sector in Singapore. Among the company's investments were the development of Forum The Shopping Mall, and purchases of store units in three other shopping centers, Meridien, Ming Arcade, and Orchard Plaza.

In 2002, HPL looked beyond the Asian market again, paying British Airways $31 million to acquire the Fitzpatrick Hotel in New York City. Unlike many of its other hotels, where HPL had been developing its interests in hotel management, the company turned over management and operation of the Fitzpatrick to Jolly Tinker Inc.

In 2004, HPL spotted a new opportunity in Macau, where Las Vegas's Sheldon Adelson had begun the development of the new Cotai Strip casino resort development. HPL joined in, signing an agreement to build two hotels in the resort, a 400-room Four Seasons, and a 1,500-room Hard Rock Hotel. The company began negotiations to acquire land as part of an investment expected to cost as much as $200 million.

HPL continued to fine-tune its portfolio into the mid-decade. Instead of pursuing the Concorde/HPL Australia development, the company sold off a large part of that site. Then, in April 2005, HPL announced that it was putting up for sale the rest of the former Chevron complex as well. By then, HPL's total hotel portfolio numbered some 20 hotels in 10 countries. Ong Beng Seng remained at the company's helm, guiding it into the new century.

Principal Subsidiaries: Cleaton Investments Pte Ltd; HPL Hotels & Resorts Pte Ltd; HPL Investment & Investment Development Pte Ltd; HPL Leisure Holdings Pte Ltd; HPL Orchard Place Pte Ltd; HPL Properties (Australasia) Pte Ltd; HPL Properties (SEA) Pte Ltd; HPL Properties (West Asia) Investment Pte Ltd; HPL Properties (West) Pte Ltd; HPL Properties Pte Ltd; HPL Singapore Pte Ltd; HPL Tourism & Leisure Pte Ltd; Luxury Holdings Pte Ltd; Maxford Investments Pte Ltd; Pinedale Holdings Pte Ltd; Poussain Pte Ltd; Super Vista Sdn Bhd.

Principal Competitors: Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited; New World Development Company Limited; Sino Land Company Limited.

Related information about Hotel

Some hotels have conference services and meeting rooms and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location.

Hotels differ from motels in that most motels have drive-up, exterior entrances to the rooms, while hotels tend to have interior entrances to the rooms, which may increase guests' safety and present a more upmarket image.

In Australia, a hotel may also be an establishment that serves alcoholic drinks, and usually meals in a casual setting but which does not necessarily provide accommodation. Other features found may be a telephone, an alarm clock, a TV, and broadband Internet connectivity. Food and drink may be supplied by a mini-bar (which often includes a small refrigerator) containing snacks and drinks (to be paid for on departure), and tea and coffee making facilities (cups, spoons, an electric kettle and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer or milk).

In the United Kingdom a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all comers within certain stated hours; Although usually considerably smaller than a mainstream hotel (ranging from 3 to 100 guest rooms) boutique hotels are generally fitted with telephone and wi-fi Internet connections, honesty bars and often cable/pay TV.

Famous hotels

Some hotels have gained their renown through tradition, by hosting significant events or persons, such as Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam, Germany, which derives its fame from the so-called Potsdam Conference of the World War II alli Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin in 1945. There are also hotels which became much more popular through films like the Grand Hotel Europe in Saint Petersburg, Russia when James Bond stayed there in the Blockbuster, Goldeneye.

A number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, such as the Ritz Hotel in London, UK ('Putting on The Ritz') and Hotel Chelsea in New York City, subject of a number of songs and also the scene of the alleged stabbing of Nancy Spungen by her boyfriend Sid Vicious. Other famous hotels include the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Hotel Bel-Air and the Chateau Marmont, in California, USA,Watergate complex in Washington DC ,the Hotel Astoria in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the Hotel George V in Paris and the Palazzo Versace hotel on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, Hotel Leningradskaya in Moscow.

Unusual hotels

Treehouse hotels

Some hotels, such as the Costa Rica Tree House in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, or Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park, Kenya, are built with living trees as structural elements, making them treehouses.

The Ariau Towers near Manaus, Brazil is in the middle of the Amazon, on the Rio Negro. Bill Gates even invested and had a suite built there with satellite internet/phone.

Another hotel with treehouse units is Bayram's Tree Houses in Olympos, Turkey www.bayrams.com/.

Cave hotels

Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, South Australia and the Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarc坦n (named after the author) in Guadix, Spain, as well as several hotels in Cappadocia, Turkey, are notable for being built into natural cave formations, some with rooms underground.

Garden hotels

Garden hotels, famous for their gardens before they became hotels, includes Gravetye Manor, the home of William Robinson and Cliveden, designed by Charles Barry with a rose garden by Geoffrey Jellicoe.

Underwater hotels

As of 2005, the only hotel with an underwater room that can be reached without Scuba diving is Utter Inn in Lake M辰laren, Sweden. --> It only has one room, however, and Jules' Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, which requires scuba diving, is not much bigger.

Hydropolis is an ambitious project to build a luxury hotel in Dubai, UAE, with 220 suites, all on the bottom of the Persian Gulf, 20 meters (66 feet) below the surface.

Other unusual hotels

The Library Hotel in New York City is unique in that its ten floors are arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System.

The Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, in Toronto, Canada is the only stadium to have a hotel connected to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field.

The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, built on an artificial island, is structured in the shape of a sail of a boat.

Largest

The current largest hotel in the world is First World Hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia.Hotel in Genting named as world?s largest thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/30/nation/14997113&sec=nation It has a total of 6,118 rooms, and is part of the Genting Highlands Resort and Casino. Previously, the largest hotel in the world was the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with 5,690 rooms.

Oldest

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest hotel still in operation is the Hoshi Ryokan, in Awazu, Japan. Between 1966 and 1968, he also purchased several other hotel-casinos from the Mafia: Castaways, New Frontier, The Landmark Hotel and Casino, Sands and Silver Slipper.

Coco Chanel made the H担tel Ritz in Paris her home for more than thirty years, until the day of her death, at 87, in a suite now named "Coco Chanel Suite".

King Peter II of Yugoslavia spent much of the Second World War at Claridge's, a hotel in London. His son, Aleksandar Kara?or?evi?, was born in the hotel.

Prince Felix Yusupov lived in the Hotel Vend担me in Paris.

Alois Brunner, Austrian Nazi war criminal is believed to lived in the Meridian Hotel in Damascus ,Syria under name Georg Fischer.

Sultan Said Bin Taimur of Muscat lived at Dorchester Hotel in London after he was deposed by Qaboos of Oman in 1970, He died in the hotel in 1972.

Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek statesman and diplomat, lived in the H担tel Ritz Paris while he was in exile in France from 1935-1936. Hotels also feature in films, television series, songs and even theme park rides.

Examples:

Hyperion Hotel
Grand Hotel
Room Service
Plaza Suite
Tipton Hotel on Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
The Hotel New Hampshire
Fawlty Towers
Four Rooms
White Horse Inn
Hotelier
Hotel Babylon
"Hotel California"
Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun
Hotel Denouement from the Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
A Caribbean Mystery
At Bertram's Hotel
Cyril Hare's Suicide Excepted
Hotel Rwanda
"Hollywood Tower Hotel" (ride at Disney-MGM Studios, Orlando, Florida)
The Overlook Hotel from The Shining
Hotel
Hotel Trianon in Graham Greene's The Comedians
The Leaky Cauldron

Other usage

In India, the word may also refer to a restaurant since the best restaurants were always situated next to a good hotel.

References

Travel

Chronology

Key Dates:
1975: Ong Beng Seng joins father-in-law Peter Fu Yun Siak's Kuo International.
1981: Kuo enters property development, forming Hotel Properties Pte Ltd. (HPL).
1982: HPL acquires Hilton Hotel in Singapore and goes public, changing name to Hotel Properties Ltd.
1984: HPL acquires Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore, and later, Four Seasons Hotel in London.
1995: HPL begins buying properties on Australia's Gold Coast, including Chevron Hotel complex.
1997: Ong and wife Christina Ong begin selling off a number of assets, generating cash for investments in Asian region property market, acquiring a number of new properties and franchises, including Concorde Hotels, Hard Rock Café and Hard Rock Hotels, and Planet Hollywood.
2001: HPL changes name of Concorde to HPL Hotel & Resorts.
2002: HPL pays British Airways $31 million for Fitzpatrick Hotel in New York City.
2004: The company agrees to build a Four Seasons Hotel and a Hard Rock Hotel in new Cotai Strip resort development in Macau.
2005: HPL announces intention to sell remainder of former Chevron Hotel site.

Additional topics

Company HistoryFinance: Holding Companies

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