InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a long-term agreement with Asia Pacific Hotels Inc to take on the management of Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan, in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, from this month (May 2020).
The 416-room hotel will rebrand as Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan in 2022 following a refurbishment, before adding a 116-room extension by 2025.
Alongside IHG’s October announcement that it has taken on management of the 318-room Fiesta Resort Guam, a hotel that will rebrand as a Crowne Plaza in 2021, the combined 850 room count makes the biggest ever conversion signing for IHG’s Australasia, Japan and Pacific Islands region.
Fiesta Resort Saipan features six dining outlets and a club lounge, and also offers four meeting rooms, a 300-person ballroom, a gym, multiple swimming pools, retail area and a stunning 500 metre beach frontage.
“We are honoured to build on our relationship with Asia Pacific Hotels Inc as they put their trust in IHG to take on a another of their great hotels, Fiesta Resort Saipan, and rebrand it as a Crowne Plaza,” said IHG’s Vice President Development, Australasia, Japan and Pacific, Abhijay Sandilya.
“Saipan, and Micronesia more broadly, is a favourite destination for travellers from around the world, and from Korea, China and Japan in particular, and we will draw on IHG’s deep expertise in catering to guests from these markets. We look forward to growing the resort’s footprint with our world-class Crowne Plaza brand.”
IHG has extensive experience in operating hotels and resorts that cater to Japanese, Korean and Chinese guests, with more than 400 hotels across China and Korea, and 32 hotels in Japan, including InterContinental resorts in Okinawa and the spectacular ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort and Spa, which opened in August last year.
“Since we partnered with IHG in October 2019 our relationship has gone from strength to strength, and we are delighted to hand over the operations of our Fiesta Resorts in Guam and Saipan to IHG,” said EVP of Asia Pacific Hotels Inc, Jennifer Tan Su.
“Saipan enjoys great hotel fundamentals, stable tourism and moderately long average stays, but has a distinct lack of great, internationally branded hotels, so we knew we needed a global brand like Crowne Plaza to attract guests from around the world bring a new level of hospitality to Saipan.
“We are excited for the next phase of growth for this fantastic hotel, and look forward to growing the partnership with IHG,” she said.
Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan will join the brand in its most exciting era of transformation, as Crowne Plaza rolls-out its global flagship strategy.
The first six flagship hotels have started to open across Europe, the US and China, illustrating the new hallmark design innovation and brand standards across technology, public spaces (the ‘Plaza Workspace’), guest rooms, food and beverage and more. IHG says the the new design is inspired by the continued guest demand for flexible spaces, offering seamless transition between business and downtime for the modern traveller.
IHG currently has 85 hotels operating under six brands in Australasia, Japan and the Pacific Islands, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, voco, Hotel Indigo and Holiday Inn Express, with another 42 in the pipeline, including Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants.