IHG has signed a long-term agreement with Asia Pacific Hotels Inc to take on management of Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, from May 20201.
The impressive 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.
Saipan is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands and is part of the Commonwealth of the United States. A 20-minute flight from Guam, Saipan is characterised by sandy shores and mountainous landscapes, and boasts several championship golf courses. It has a borderline tropical rainforest climate and, with an average year-round maximum temperature of 28.9°C, Saipan has been cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the least fluctuating temperatures in the world.2
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.
Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s Vice President Development, Australasia, Japan & Pacific, said: “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. 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.
Jennifer Tan Su, EVP of Asia Pacific Hotels Inc, commented: “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. 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.”
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 & beverage and more. 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®, vocoTM, Hotel Indigo® and Holiday Inn Express®, with another 42 in the pipeline, including Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.*
*Numbers correct as at end 31 December 2019
1Subject to accessibility restrictions due to Covd-19
2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saipan
