New build hotel decked out in 200% foliage makes debut June 1
His first hotel opening was the Crowne Plaza Chengdu in 1996 and when the new Pan Pacific Orchard soft opens on June 1, it will be Marcel Holman’s seventh opening – and he openly admits it, it’s a whole new world when it comes to hotel look and feel.
Gone are those days when hotels were huge towering blocks of concrete and steel, sometimes glass, screaming, “Look at me.” Now they resemble giant trees, gardens or parks, whispering, “Psst, look at me”, making a more subtle statement about its sense of place.
Such is the feeling when you walk into the Pan Pacific Orchard, a new build operated by Pan Pacific Hotels Group, a member of Singapore-listed UOL Group Limited.
You feel like you’re walking into a park or forest, through foliage-lined trails. You look up and the 23-storey hotel tower looks like a giant tree sticking out into the skyline. Over 200% of the hotel’s land area is enveloped in foliage and there’s lots of water features to enhance that feeling of being immersed in nature.
Not only are these features pleasing to look at, but they are also environmentally-friendly. Pan Pacific Orchard is a BCA Green Mark Platinum-certified for its sustainability features, which include rainwater harvesting system and renewable solar panel technology to light up the sky gardens, control pool temperature and power the irrigation. The design of the terraces also optimises natural daylight and facilitates cross ventilation, hence reducing overall dependency on energy usage.
Designed by award-winning WOHA Architects, the hotel features four seamlessly connected terraces – Forest, Beach, Garden and Cloud – each providing its own experiences across unique environments. As I said, it’s like walking into a garden in the city, with different zones.
Sitting in the open courtyard, Holman, vice president operations, China, Indonesia, Japan & pre-opening general manager, looks up at the tree-lined skyscraper and said, smiling, “It will be interesting to see what kind of birds we attract. There’s already a resident pigeon in the lobby.”
He adds, “Hotels today are designed differently. They are more residential, more loungey, more living, more communal spaces. In the rooms, you hardly have office desks anymore and baths have mostly disappeared.”
Clever use of mirrors, light and trees creates the feeling of being immersed in nature.
Lobbies and reception areas have shrunk because the idea today is to get guests to the rooms as fast as possible. The hotel will have its own app which will allow guests to pre-check in and go straight to their rooms with a digital key.
It has taken the bold step of having a non air-conditioned lobby, probably the first for a luxury property in this tropical city. But there are plenty of fans and high ceilings to keep things reasonably cool – and if the idea is not to linger in the lobby, well, then who needs air-conditioning?
The Pan Pacific Orchard is a new build, rising from the site of the former Hotel Negara and the old Pan Pacific Orchard. It closed on March 31, 2018 and five years later, the 347-room hotel is opening in a very bullish market.
“It is quite a daring move by the owners, UOL Group, to demolish the old hotel and build a new one, but this is a group that builds daring hotels – for example, PARKROYAL Pickering, Pan Pacific London – and has a very clear vision as to what it want to create,” said Holman, who joined Pan Pacific in the second quarter of last year, relocating from Hong Kong where he was with Langham Hotels.
In all, he’s done 10 hotel openings and renovations, most of them in China. This is his first stint in Singapore. “It’s an active and competitive market. We were fortunate that Singapore reopened early, which allowed the city to move ahead of cities like Bangkok and Hong Kong, to attract more business.”
The hotel opened for sale from February 27, offering a special opening rate of S$400++, through its brand.com, selected OTAs as well as through the GHA (Global Hotel Alliance) Discovery loyalty programme, and has seen healthy bookings. More than 50% of business is currently through brand.com with Discovery contributing close to 30% of the bookings.
“Discovery is a powerful channel for the group. And once OTAs are fully activated, we anticipate they will be a big contributor too. Of course, we want more direct bookings but you cannot ignore the OTAs longterm for markets such as the US and China,” said Holman.
It is eyeing a mix of corporate, MICE and leisure business, and expects its loft rooms and balcony rooms to 
do well with staycations as well as leisure guests.
Filling the rooms and meeting spaces – by the way, the pillarless ballroom at the rooftop with an outdoor garden and spectacular view, is a winner in my book – will not be as big a challenge as finding the people to provide the service that will differentiate the hotel.
As Holman said, “Building is the easy part, it’s about the experience, the feeling you want to create, the wow factor. Business levels are healthy but hospitality has a challenge with people. That’s the human part of the business, there are just not enough people who want to work in hospitality after what the industry has been through.”
It is looking to build up a staff force of 240. “We will design more multi-tasking roles, the younger generation likes that, it makes it less boring. Of course, salaries will be more attractive and certain positions will be able to work from home.
Top, the outdoor lawn on the 11th floor and below, the tree-lined stairway that greets you when you enter through the back of the hotel.
“Hospitality has been conservative in terms of job design but we have to change and adapt. In the old days, in Chengdu, when we had mass recruitment, you’d have 8,000 people show up. Now, you’re lucky to have 150-200, and you get ask questions like, ‘how long will I stay in this position, can I move in six months?”
“People are asking different questions and have different expectation, so we need to change and not manage as we did 10 years ago.”
The hotel certainly has a fresh look and feel to it, with lots of spaces for people to gather at different floors. On the 11th floor, where Florette, a champagne & oyster bar is located along with the Pacific Club Lounge, there are lots of outdoor spaces that Holman is looking to activate and animate – perhaps weekend markets, artists-in-residence and herb garden.
You can almost feel his head exploding with ideas. He’s most excited about Mosella, its Mediterranean restaurant with a Peruvian twist. “It feels good already. We will have live ceviche stations, cocktails – a very interactive space. It will have good vibe, good music – not like a stiff hotel restaurant.”
Roll on, June 1.
