NewPassion and patience guide bid for Regent's Hong Kong return
Steven Pan, whose Formosa International bought the storied brand, is hunting for the right location to restore Regent's golden era in the city
Steven Pan Si-liang’s passion for the legendary Regent hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui – now the InterContinental – is underlined by his decision to stay in Hong Kong and his relentless search of a choice location to restore Regent’s heyday in the city.
The chairman of Taiwan’s biggest and most profitable hotel operator – Formosa International Hotels – which bought the Regent brand from America’s Carlson Group three yeas ago – is now looking to flex its muscles in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
But prime locations in Hong Kong are limited, and expensive too, following the record-breaking sale of the Murray Building hotel refurbishment project last month to Wheelock & Co’s hotel unit – Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel.
It was the views that made this hotel known to the world more than 30 years ago
Pan conceded that Regent’s property developer partner had lost out in the bidding.
“The Murray Building bid is very high, which means it is not easy to make a good financial return,” Pan told the South China Morning Post in a waterfront suite on the 14th floor of the InterContinental.
“When I came to the hotel from the airport this morning, the taxi driver was still describing it as the Regent,” he said. “It was the views that made this hotel known to the world more than 30 years ago, and even now the views are still great except that the opposite shore gets a bit closer.”
Regent was founded by hotelier Robert Burns and Japan’s Tokyo Group in 1970 but was taken over Four Seasons 22 years later, despite attracting bidders such as Wheelock.