The Ascott Limited, the international lodging operator of Singapore’s CapitaLand Investment, has unveiled plans to reflag the stadium hotels at Chelsea Football Club and open half a dozen new properties across the UK and France under its stable of brands.
The signing of the hotels located at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge ground comes as Ascott says that its experiential-led strategy will increasingly be built around sporting “exclusives” for its guests. Unveiling a four-year, worldwide partnership with the football club, Ascott adds that while its primary focus will be the refurbishment of the erstwhile Millennium & Copthorne stadium hotels, set to be repositioned to Ascott’s lyf brand, the deal signed with the Premier League side will also see Ascott offer relevant sporting packages to its loyalty members worldwide. As well as match day tickets and experiences, its highest tier members might also get to join a training session at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground and dine or even stay in the villa built at the Surrey site by former club owner, Roman Abramovich.
This summer, in the first of its sporting exclusives, Ascott invited over 80 guests from its platinum tier of Ascott Star Rewards members and the firm’s property owners for a sporting weekend in London. Guests were hosted at Ascott’s The Cavendish London and offered lunch and match tickets for the Men’s and Women’s finals at the Wimbledon Championships 2024. “Offering exclusive opportunities to attend coveted events like Premier League football matches, major tennis tournaments, and other high-profile activities not only enhances travel experiences but also deepens guests’ connection with our brands,” says Tan Bee Leng, chief commercial officer, Ascott.
Eyes on Europe
Ascott is also enthusiastic about expansion opportunities in Europe, perhaps no more so than in the UK, home to four of five further openings announced. Ascott has signed new properties in Colmar in France, as well as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester and Manchester in the UK. The majority will be conversion projects, largely to its brands lyf that focuses on experience-led social living, or The Unlimited Collection that highlights cultural experiences. This latter brand combines upscale lodgings in a boutique environment, usually characterised by a lobby bar and shop dedicated to local artisans, while lyf properties lead with coliving and coworking amenities, aimed at both short and longer-term guest stays. Says Kevin Goh, CEO for Ascott and CLI Lodging: “As a global tourism and business hub, Europe plays a key role in Ascott’s expansion plans. The diverse and dynamic nature of its hospitality sector offers plenty of scope for Ascott to drive more successful partnerships with owners.
“We will achieve this by leveraging Ascott’s flex-hybrid hotel-in-residence model, which is designed to meet the varying needs of owners and guests through a wide selection of brands and customised solutions, backed by experienced teams with deep local knowledge.”
While Ascott is increasingly positioning itself as a hospitality operator that also extends into short stays, its roots lie in serviced residences known for their extended-stay appeal. During the pandemic, Ascott’s aparthotels proved a highly resilient formula, while brands such as lyf captured the needs of a new generation of remote workers.
While it pursues new openings in the Midlands and UK North, it is repositioning its London properties to match evolving guest needs. After the successful opening of Citadines Islington London, which won EDGE certification for its sustainable features, the brand is working on the revamp of Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden London, where each room includes a small kitchen unit and some have washing machines – other guests can use the on-site laundry rooms. According to Ascott, these London properties have attracted a mix of short and long stayers, with one guest remaining at Holborn-Covent Garden for seven years. In Mayfair, its flagship four star, The Cavendish London, will slowly be converted into a five-star property from the first quarter of 2025, with the hotel stripping the rooms back to concrete as it is repositioned under The Crest Collection banner. There is also hunger to grow further in Continental Europe, where the lyf brand was launched last year in Vienna, recently joined by lyf in Frankfurt East, with a Paris lyf next to come. The French capital is seen as worthy of further scrutiny, after the successful performance of Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Prés Paris, which will be rebranded to the upper-upscale The Crest Collection after the Paris Olympics. France is Ascott’s Continental European hub where it currently operates 29 properties, of which 17 are in Paris. Notes Lee Ngor Houai, Ascott’s chief operating officer for EMEA, South Asia and China: “Our European portfolio has been delivering strong performance, driving average daily rates of almost 30 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“In 2023, our properties in Europe far exceeded all other markets in terms of revenue per available unit (RevPAU) and contributed to almost 16 per cent of Ascott’s global revenue. By expanding and strengthening Ascott’s presence in some of Europe’s key markets, we will be better positioned to capture the growth opportunities in Europe and contribute to the region’s thriving tourism sector.”
Asset-light model
Of course, rapid growth often needs a light touch in terms of real estate, and Goh confirms the continuing move towards an asset light model. Parent CapitaLand Investment has around S$134 billion of assets under management as well as S$100 billion of funds under management held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and more than 30 private vehicles across Asia Pacific, Europe and USA. Its real estate asset classes cover retail, office, lodging, business parks, industrial, logistics, self-storage and data centres. Further – and more rapid growth – will be contingent on both scaling its funds under management and its fee-related earnings, as Ascott targets fee income of S$500 million by 2028 (in 2023, fee earnings reached S$331 million.) Serena Lim, chief growth officer at Ascott, says that the key to this will be Ascott’s conversion capabilities that can be as quick as 30 days, as well as more lengthy refurbishment projects. She says: “We added nearly 9,600 more keys last year and hope to add 10,000 keys this year.”
Adds Goh: “With five of the six new signings in Europe year to date being conversion projects, Ascott’s established conversion capabilities have already been proven as effective in gaining the confidence of property owners.
“We expect franchise management to be our next pillar of growth in Europe, where market conditions are conducive for this business segment. For our existing owners, we will continue to deliver sustained value by embarking on asset enhancement initiatives that update and elevate the stay experiences of guests.”