Hong Kong long-stay landlords battle desperate hotels for finite guests as former quarantine rooms flood market

Hotels slash rates to fill their rooms now that quarantine stays are gone, luring guests from serviced apartments and the leasing market

Only a reopening of the border with the mainland and a ‘0+0’ policy will fill up hotel rooms and restore normal conditions, insiders say

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Signature Homes, the residential leasing arm of Sun Hung Kai Properties, has been renovating units in Dynasty Court in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels neighbourhood since 2021. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:30am, 17 Oct 2022

Hong Kong’s serviced-apartment operators are taking friendly fire from an unlikely competitor, as hotels that have lost their quarantine income slash prices to fill empty rooms after local authorities relaxed their isolation rules for inbound travellers.

The former quarantine hotels are hurting for guests because few business travellers and tourists have returned, leaving the market flooded with vacant rooms, said Derek Sun Wei-kong, managing director of Signature Homes.

“Hotels, when they are not full, tend to lower the price and attract long-stay guests,” he said. “And that’s basically taking market share from serviced apartments and residential.”

Signature Homes is the residential leasing arm of Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Hong Kong’s biggest developer by value. It manages more than 2,000 units.

Derek Sun Wei-kong, managing director of Signature Homes, Sun Hung Kai Properties, photographed at a Dynasty Court flat in Mid-Levels in Hong Kong on October 10, 2022. Photo: SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

“If you just go to any hotel, they are bound to have some long-staying guests,” Sun said. “Hotels tend to give out quite a significant discount for those 14-day stay packages.” Guests can also renew multiple times, he added.