Family office Royal Group picks Sunset Hospitality to manage hotel off Orchard Road

[SINGAPORE] Singapore-based single-family office Royal Group of Companies has appointed Dubai-headquartered Sunset Hospitality Group (SHG) to manage a 165-room hotel it is developing on the former Ming Arcade site just off Orchard Road.

The hotel, to be named Casa Mett, is slated to open in early 2027. SHG expects room rates of S$450 to S$500 per night, on a stabilised basis.

Despite having just 13 storeys, the hotel, designed with a gently curving facade, will rise to a height of 100 m on a blade-shaped freehold site of 12,132 square feet at 21 Cuscaden Road.

Tight site

Given the challenge of a compact site, SCDA Architects principal Chan Soo Khian, who designed the hotel, introduced two high-volume sky terraces with lush greenery on the second and eighth floors of the property. These spaces will feature food and beverage (F&B) offerings as well as guest amenities.

“The hospitality experience is further enhanced by a rooftop pool and open-space dining that promises an exclusive vantage point over the city,” said SCDA Architects.

The ground floor of the hotel will have a height of about 13 m. The 165 rooms will be on nine levels, all of which will be 4.2 m high. The two basement levels will accommodate a mechanised car park for 21 cars, as well as plant and equipment.

Casa Mett’s serrated exterior and full-height glazing will maximise views of the city and surrounding greenery.

The hotel will have three F&B concepts, on the first two levels and the roof. The eighth-floor sky terrace will incorporate fitness and wellness facilities.

Casa Mett will spring up in a dense hotel stretch in the Orchard precinct, with two hotels that opened in 2023 just a stone’s throw away – Artyzen Singapore and The Singapore Edition. Casa Mett will also be next to the Orchard Rendezvous; the other nearby hotels include Orchard Hotel, voco Orchard, Four Seasons, St Regis and Conrad Singapore Orchard.

Royal Group said the upcoming hotel will fill a niche for an upmarket, trendy lifestyle hotel in the locale.

It clinched Ming Arcade, a seven-storey commercial complex, through a collective sale in December 2022 for S$172 million. The price reflected a record S$3,125 per square foot per plot ratio.

The site was rezoned from commercial to hotel use, entailing a land betterment charge in excess of S$25 million, said Bobby Hiranandani, co-chairman of Royal Group of Companies. The cost of building and fitting out the hotel has yet to be finalised.

Rare catch, decent investment

On the purchase price for Ming Arcade, Hiranandani’s father and the Royal Group of Companies chairman, Asok Kumar Hiranandani, said: “Freehold in Singapore is a rare catch. That’s why I paid the highest price.”

While the entry price may be steep, there is potential for price appreciation if supply dries up, he added. “I think over the next decade, this will be a pretty decent investment for us.”

The senior Hiranandani is sanguine about future demand for Singapore hotel rooms. He noted the government’s strategy to build Changi Airport’s Terminal 5, which is planned to be operational in the mid-2030s and will expand the airport’s capacity by more than 50 per cent. “They will want to make sure that the visitor arrival numbers come in.”

“We are taking the lead from where the government is planning Singapore,” he added.

SHG, which will manage Royal Group’s Cuscaden Road hotel, is a multinational lifestyle hospitality group with a portfolio encompassing hotels and resorts, restaurants, beach clubs, nightclubs and fitness centres. It operates 86 properties and venues in 26 countries.

SHG’s presence in Singapore

Royal Group’s property will be the second hotel SHG will manage in Singapore.

Last October, it announced that it will take over the management of the 86-room Hotel Fort Canning. The landmark property is expected to shut next month and will be rebranded as Mett Singapore, opening later this year.

It will have five F&B offerings, given its larger footprint compared with Casa Mett, which will have three F&B concepts, said Antonio Gonzalez, chairman and group chief executive officer of SHG.

“The Fort Canning property is more of an urban resort, while we see Casa Mett more as a boutique lifestyle offering,” he added.

Festive dining concepts

For both hotels, SHG will operate the F&B outlets itself under its own dining brands, which are known to be unique, injecting a festive environment and entertainment.

SHG runs Chinese restaurant Mott 32 at Marina Bay Sands and Sushisamba – which offers a blend of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisines and cultures – on level 52 of Capital Tower in Robinson Road.

“We are actively looking at more opportunities; we want to increase our footprint in Singapore,” said Gonzalez.

Bobby Hiranandani said: “The north-western end of the Orchard Road precinct is emerging as Singapore’s iconic lifestyle destination, and Sunset Hospitality’s distinguished brands curate refined ‘daylife’ and nightlife entertainment, dining, and hospitality experience – elevating our hotel into a premier haven for the discerning, cosmopolitan traveller.”

The elder Hiranandani added: “The rejuvenation of Orchard Road starts not with building square blocks, but constructing buildings that stand out.”

Royal Group, a property investment and development group, also owns Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa, and the recently opened Raffles Sentosa Singapore.