something is wrong...
i oni know SG hotels are jacking up their rates like phuck
slash rates?
JB just anyhow try to find reason for their own bad biz???
GOt jack rates meh? Take at look at this:
GREAT F1 HOTEL ROOM SALE
Big hotel discounts draw F1 fans in big way
By Crystal Chan
CALL it the Great Formula One hotel room sale.
ALL SET: Mr Kellvin Ong, general manager of Hotel
Rendezvous Singapore, had the rooms refurbished. --TNP PICTURE:
MOHD ISHAK
When the first F1 night race in Singapore was announced, many
hotels, anticipating high demand, pushed up their rates for the
race period.
But, with just two weeks to go, some are struggling to fill all
their rooms.
So they have gone on overdrive to boost demand, with several
resorting to price-slashing.
From a high of $1,000-plus, many hotels are now giving hefty
discounts of up to 60 per cent to cash in on the F1 fever.
Leading the pack in the discount race is Hotel Rendezvous, which
has reduced its rate from $1,000 to just $430.
Thanks to the big discount, its room occupancy has shot up from
40 per cent to 60 per cent in just a week for the F1 weekend from
26 to 28 Sep.
The four-star hotel's general manager, Mr Kellvin Ong, couldn't
be happier.
He said he had to react to market conditions, because 'several
competitors are bringing down their rates'.
Renovated
The 298-room hotel, a 10-minute walk from the race circuit, is
spending about $7 million to refurbish several rooms and its
in-house restaurant, Straits Cafe.
On the rooms yet to be filled, Mr Ong said: 'It's not possible
for every hotel to be fully booked for the F1. So if I can fill at
least 70 per cent of my rooms, I'll be happy.'
He added: 'My hotel's usual rate is $480 a night. But we timed
the renovations to be completed for the F1 and with our promotional
rate, we hope to attract more guests.'
He added that the renovated rooms come with LCD televisions,
self-heating toilet seats and Chopard toiletries.
Also seeing better business is the 206-room Pan Pacific Orchard,
which cut its daily rate from $800++ to $650++.
The five-star hotel's general manager, Ms Linda Wee, told The
New Paper that since the prices were modified a few months ago,
occupancy has gone up from 50 to 80 per cent.
She said: 'We need to stay competitive. Reducing our rates will
affect our profits, but there has to be a balance.
'You can't be running an empty hotel. It's still better to
reduce our rates and enjoy higher occupancy than to keep prices
unchanged and make a loss.'
The 778-room Pan Pacific Singapore has also cut its nightly rate
from $1,500 to about $850, and has so far received bookings at a
good pace.
The five-star trackside hotel has also reduced the minimum stay
period from five to three nights.
Declining to reveal the number of reservations, Pan Pacific's
spokesman said: 'We expect high demand for trackside accommodation
as visitors will want to stay close to the action.'
Other hotels such as Carlton, Peninsula-Excelsior and York have
also slashed their rates. But they declined comment when
contacted.
Some hotels, among them Novotel Clarke Quay and Conrad
Centennial, are fully booked for the race weekend without having to
cut their rates.
Solid business
Novotel Clarke Quay's general manager, Mr Heinz Javier Colby,
said that his 401-room establishment was already 70 per cent full
six months ago.
Declining to reveal his room rates, he said: 'We contacted our
sister hotels in other F1 host cities to find out how much they
charged. We didn't impose abnormal fees so we attracted solid
business well in advance.'
He added that his four-star hotel never had to slash its
rates.
Some hotels have maintained their rates but reduced the minimum
number of nights that guests have to book.
This strategy has worked for the five-star Royal Plaza on
Scotts, which has sold 92 per cent of its 511 rooms for the race
weekend.
Just two weeks ago, its occupancy was at 75 per cent.
The hotel kept its nightly rate of $960, but two weeks ago,
removed the minimum stay period of two nights.
Royal Plaza's general manager, Mr Patrick Fiat, said: 'We
removed the minimum period as we had already sold 75 per cent of
the rooms and we were looking to sell out the remaining rooms.'
But there is a catch to some of the low rates - the packages may
exclude breakfast and transport to the race track.
S'PORE HOTELS SLASH PRICES
HOTEL
BEFORE
AFTER
Hotel Rendezvous Singapore
$1,000
$430
York Hotel
$450 to $500
$260 to $400
Carlton Hotel
$790
$490
Peninsula-Excelsior Hotel
$737
$420
Pan Pacific Singapore
$1,500
About $850
Pan Pacific Orchard
$800
$650
Copthorne Orchid
About $600
From $335
InterCon-tinental Hotel
From $1,000
$980
Grand Plaza Park Hotel CityHall
$800
$600
Park Hotel Orchard
$500
$380