Soaring high above the office blocks and residences in Damansara Heights, an affluent suburb of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara is an impressive sight with its wide driveway, sparkling marble floors and lofty ceilings.
Opened last month the 312-room hotel is the first Sofitel in Malaysia, marking the brand’s entry into the country. It is also the first property in AccorHotels’ expansion of its luxury and upscale collection – the Sofitel and Pullman brands – in Asia Pacific (APAC) with six confirmed openings in the next three months.
The new Sofitel hotel in Kuala Lumpur
The Kuala Lumpur hotel will be followed by the 223-room Sofitel Singapore City Centre opening October, three Australasian launches – 590-room Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, 132- room Pullman Brisbane Airport and 129-room Sofitel Wellington (relaunch) – with the 317-room Pullman Shenyang Ginza (China) rounding up the group’s 2017 luxe expansion in APAC.
Visiting Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara recently I found it a showcase of Malaysian and French heritage and culture, filled with art pieces and sculpture to reflect this – a feature wall depicting the wau bulan (Malaysia’s traditional moon kite) with French art vivre through an Eiffel Tower artwork.
However, locating the hotel took a bit of negotiating as it is away from the main centre of Damansara Heights, and the Uber driver had to take a few turns before finding its entrance.
While admitting that more signage is needed the hotel’s marketing and communication manager, Pugeneswary Mudukasan, said its location is actually its asset – away from the busy city centre, close to KL Sentral (the city’s transportation hub) and within walking distance to the MRT station. There are plans to provide a shuttle service to the LRT station and KL Sentral.
The hotel has received good response to its soft-opening, and is enjoying 30%-40% occupancy based on the 115 rooms (balance to open in the next few months), revealed Pugeneswary.
Hotel’s Opera Suite where singer Peter Cetera stayed
“We are specially proud to have hosted Grammy award winning singer songwriter Peter Cetera, who performed in the city early this month, as well two contingents competing in the Southeast Asian Games – a very good start for the hotel.”
Another asset for the hotel is its owner – GuocoLand, a leading property developer in Malaysia and part of the Singapore-based GuocoLand Limited, the property investment arm of the Hong Leong Group. The hotel could ride on the corporate clients of this business conglomerate, which together meetings and FITs will form 60%-70% of its target market, with the balance coming from the leisure segment with focus on families.
Next month’s opening of Sofitel Singapore City Centre in the heart of historic Tanjong Pagar will see the French hotel group reach a “milestone” as it is the group’s 800th hotel in APAC.
Pool with a view at Sofitel Singapore City Centre
“These developments build on 2016’s momentum when AccorHotels added 86 hotels to our Asia Pacific network, with 58% of rooms in the luxury and upscale sector,” said Michael Issenberg, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels Asia Pacific.
“Asia Pacific is really leading the world in terms of luxury and upscale demand, and these six hotels we are about to open are a strong signal of our intention to keep building on our luxury credentials and expand in this sector.”
• All images credit: AccorHotels
