Boutique brand Pentahotels to open second site in Hong Kong with ambitious plans for rest of Asia
A member of the Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group, the company is aiming to have 80 properties by 2020, up from its existing 27
Pentahotels, a German boutique hotel brand, is opening its second hotel in Hong Kong by the middle of next year, and plans further expansion in Asia and globally through potential mergers or acquisitions, its managing director has told South China Morning Post.
The mid-market brand – which champions what it calls “neighbourhood lifestyle hotels” – will open its new Hong Kong property in Tuen Mun as a part of a management contract with electronic product manufacturer Luks Industrial Company, according to Alastair Thomann.
It has three other branded hotels in Kowloon, Beijing, and Shanghai, and in Hong Kong alone the company sees the potential for 10 properties and has already looked at locations in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, both home to some of the world’s biggest hotel brands.
A member of the Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group, it has 27 hotels globally in countries including Germany, the UK, and Belgium, but Thomann said it is keenest on shifting its focus predominately to Asia, with plans to open in Jinan in June 2017, and Shenyang in 2018.
“We have a lot of openings and projects in the pipeline for Asia,” Thomann told the Post. “Asia will be our most important market within the next two and a half years.”
The brand’s hoping to hit 80 hotels globally by 2020, and that could be achieved by taking over or merging with another hotel name, he added.
Further down the track its ambitions also extend to major cities including London, Rome, and Amsterdam in Europe, and New York, Miami, and Los Angeles in the US. But the brand’s focus remains on Asia, said Thomann: “This market is really what our brand was developed for. Here in Asia, there are almost unlimited opportunities.”
Thomann’s target audience is travellers looking for what he says are non-traditional hotel experiences and a sense of community, probably aged between 25 and 40.
We have a lot of openings and projects in the pipeline for Asia... it will be our most important market within the next two and a half years
His employees are uniformed in Diesel jeans, and the hotels feature “Pentalounges” – a combined lobby, reception, bar, and café communal space, with gamer-centric hotel rooms on offer, which can include foosball tables and pinball machines.
“We’re trying to have a concept that everyone will feel comfortable in,” Thomann said.
Like chains around the world, it’s also key for the company to appeal to the Chinese traveller, who he said tend to book rooms more last-minute and via mobile devices, and have more need for top-notch wireless connectivity and rooms well-stocked with extras such as tooth brushes.
“To attract the Chinese traveller, it’s a whole different ball game than to attract the European,” Thomann said.
“We’re in a segment that’s [a] big volume segment. The growth could be huge, and we have so much scope to grow in all these markets.”
