How the Niccolo brand plans to take on heavy hitters in Hong Kong’s luxury hotel market
Hotel arm of Wharf Holdings will debut its first local high-end property later this year with The Murray in Central
Competition among Hong Kong’s luxury hotels is heating up as a newcomer enters the fray and hopes to cross swords with two major players even as the city faces a current tourism downturn.
Wharf Hotel, the hotel arm of property developer Wharf Holdings, has come on board with a brand it started from scratch, called Niccolo, which already has properties in other cities.
The hotel line is now set to compete locally with iconic home-grown brands such as The Peninsula and Mandarin Oriental, according to Wharf Hotel president Dr Jennifer Cronin.
Top architect Norman Foster transforms Hong Kong’s colonial-era Murray Building into five-star hotel
The first Niccolo property in Hong Kong later this year will be The Murray, a 336-room five-star hotel in Central, which will be converted from colonial-era government house Murray Building.
Cronin said each room of The Murray will cost about HK$4,000 per night. The landmark Peninsula hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui costs at least HK$3,780 a night while the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central charges a minimum of HK$3,800 a night, according to their websites.
“The Peninsula and the Mandarin Oriental started in Hong Kong and have grown into top international hotels – this is what Niccolo is planning to do,” Cronin said in an exclusive interview with the Post.
Wharf Hotels, which has a 14-strong property portfolio in Asia, positioned Niccolo as a high-end brand, while its existing Marco Polo hotels will be classified as upper-middle range to differentiate its products from rivals, she said.
In addition to spacious, elegant rooms – designed by famed architect Norman Foster’s firm – and top restaurants, a special feature of The Murray will be an outdoor venue that is available for various functions.