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.'