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Celine Sun

Luxury hotel chain The Ritz-Carlton will return to the city next year following the closure of its Hong Kong branch in Central last year.
Mark DeCocinis, its regional vice-president for the Asia-Pacific region, told a press briefing in Hong Kong yesterday that the new six-star hotel would open in Kowloon in December next year. 
It will occupy the top 17 floors of the 118-storey International Commerce Centre  (ICC), making it the tallest hotel in the world. 
The hotel will offer 312 guest rooms, ranging from 50-square- metre deluxe harbour-view rooms to 365-square-metre suites. It will also feature bars, restaurants, a club lounge, a spa and a ballroom set to be the city's second largest. 
DeCocinis said the hotel aimed to be 'a new social centre in Hong Kong', and room rates would be set 'at the top level' compared to other hotels in the city.
He said he expected occupancy rates of about 70 per cent during the first year of operation. 'We have many very loyal guests following us. Many corporate business travellers are waiting for Ritz-Carlton to come back,' he said. 
The chain will also open a new hotel in Krabi,  Thailand, later this year, and one in Pudong,  Shanghai, in April. 
DeCocinis said he was optimistic about the high-end hotel market in the region as economies recovered. 
'We know the business in Hong Kong and mainland China is playing very well,' he said. 'The business travellers are coming back now. And we also expect there will be more leisure travellers as well.' 
The hotel chain operates 73 hotels around the world and is developing more than 30 new hotels and residential projects.



Ritz-Carlton plans return to Hong Kong as the world's tallest hotel