Novotel hotel marks completion of Citygate site
A four-star Novotel hotel is due to open its doors on Lantau island in March, marking the completion of the residential and commercial development above Tung Chung MTR station.
The 440-room Novotel Citygate, which is managed by Europe's largest hotelier Accor, is part of the Citygate commercial and entertainment complex and residential development, which has been developed since 1995 by a consortium of Hong Kong's five biggest property developers.
Brian Deeson, a senior vice-president of Accor Asia-Pacific and chief executive of the group's Greater China region, said the opening could not have come at a better time given the growth of tourism in Lantau and Hong Kong's continuing economic strength.
'We're very confident about the prospects for the hotel, which is a gateway to major tourist attractions and business convention centres in town,' Mr Deeson said yesterday. 'It is also a gateway for our investment on mainland China.'
Despite competition from the five-star Regal Hotel at Chek Lap Kok airport and three hotels at Disneyland on Lantau, Novotel would position itself as a more economical alternative to business and leisure travellers, he said. The hotel would be priced at an average of $700 to $800 per room per night.
'The market is big enough for the Novotel hotel,' he said. 'We've got people coming for the Big Buddha on Ngong Ping, the cable-car ride, Disneyland as well as the Asia WorldExpo exhibition centre and the golf course at the airport.'
He expected that about 30 per cent of Novotel's business would come from the Asia WorldExpo, Hong Kong's largest exhibition and convention facility, which will be in service later this month.
Accor, which has built a portfolio of five hotels in Hong Kong, including Novotel Citygate, planned to grow its presence by negotiating for three hotel management contracts in the city, Mr Deeson said.
Attracted by the growing number of travellers to the mainland, the hotelier had fast-forwarded its expansion in China and expected to boost the number of hotels to 62 in two years from 29 now, he said.
