For many years, the central coast city of Nha Trang has been known as a favorite destination for vacations thanks to its natural picturesque landscapes, beautiful beaches and warm weather. Most properties in the resort city are built as hotels to cater to the accommodation demand of international and local travelers. However, the city has witnessed more residential property projects making it more than just a venue just for short holidays but a place for residence and even property investment.According to the property market research company Savills Vietnam, there were 12 apartment projects with more than 1,500 units in Nha Trang as of November. The number of land plot projects remains at six with 1,000 plots and there are four villa/townhouse projects with a total of 250 villas and townhouses. Most of the apartment units are located in the city center while the villa/townhouse and land plot sectors are mainly concentrated in Vinh Nguyen and Vinh Hoa wards.

Savills says the land plot sector is enjoying the highest primary price in Nha Trang’s residential market at an average of US$710 per square meter while the primary price of apartments and villas/townhouses is recorded at US$595 and US$620 per square meter respectively. It may be explained that all land plot projects in the primary market are well located with a great view to the sea.

The seaside project An Vien Town was introduced at the property exhibition and conference called Propex Vietnam 2009 held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in HCMC’s District 7 ten days ago. The property project stretches two kilometers along the coast at the end of Tran Phu Street, some five minutes drive from the city center. It covers a 71-hectare site, in which 18 hectares are in the sea. It is designed with 568 land plots for villas and a wharf to serve private yachts of potential property owners. Infrastructure has been completed to make it ready for transaction and all land plots are licensed with permanent ownership certificates, according to the project owner.

The market research company says there is real demand for ready-built houses in Nha Trang, where residents seem to have a preference to live near the sea. Due to the limited land area close to the sea, many apartment buildings have been developed in the city in the last few years to meet demand. Some individual investors may buy land plots in a good location and build their own villas and then lease them to expatriates. With tourism strength, Nha Trang is a popular destination for foreign visitors. Many foreigners live in Nha Trang and consider this area as their second home.

Savills reports that 31 residential projects may come online in the next few years, and due to the limitation of land in the city center, the potential projects are now moving north, south and west. Large projects are expected to be developed in Vinh Thai and Phuoc Hai wards to the west of the city, which are expected to account for more than 60% of Nha Trang’s future development area.

The feasibility of building hotels in Nha Trang resort city in central coastal Khanh Hoa Province is better than other cities because of its success as a tourism destination, according to real estate service and consultancy provider Savills Viet Nam.

The total number of tourists coming to Nha Trang has been stable despite the economic slowdown, which indicates a promising future for the hotel market there, Savills said.

In the next few years, Savills reckons that 14 hotel projects with about 2,300 rooms could be completed in Nha Trang.

Currently, there are 373 hotels in Nha Trang, providing 9,712 hotel rooms.

They include three 5-star hotels and resorts, five 4-star hotels, twelve 3-star hotels and approximately 51 two-star ones.

Most hotels, resorts and guesthouses are concentrated on and around Tran Phu, Nha Trang’s beachfront boulevard. Others are located on the streets of Tran Hung Dao, Hung Vuong and Yersin, among several others.

Since October, many hotels of all grades have offered discounted room rates.

The majority of tourists travelling to Nha Trang during this period were foreigners. Hence, occupancy of 4-star and 5-star hotels was higher than in 3-star hotels due to foreigners’ preferences for high quality rooms.

There was a big difference in room rates among hotel grades. Five-star hotel room rates, at around US$170 per night, were more than double of 4-star hotel rate and nearly six times of 3-star hotel rate.

Demand trends

Nha Trang has long been renowned as a popular tourist destination, but the MICE (Meeting-incentive-conference-event) segment and demand from other business travellers remains limited.

The number of tourists in Khanh Hoa Province increased constantly in the period 2000-08.

In 2008, despite the global economic downturn, Khanh Hoa welcomed about 1.6 million visitors, an increase of nearly 17 per cent compared with 2007, in which domestic and foreign visitors accounted for 80 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

According to Savills, in November 2009, the total number of apartment projects in Nha Trang stood at 12 with more than 1,500 units.

The number of land plot projects remained at six, with 1,000 land plots. There are four villa/townhouse projects with a total of 250 villas and townhouses.

Most of the apartments are located in the city centre while the villa/ townhouse and land plot sectors are concentrated in Vinh Nguyen and Vinh Hoa wards with sea views.

The land sector is enjoying the highest primary price in Nha Trang residential market, at an average of $710 per square metre, while the primary price of apartments and villas/ townhouses is $595 and $620 per square metre, respectively.

All land plot projects in the primary market have a very good location, with excellent views to the sea.

There is a real demand for ready-built houses in Nha Trang. Due to the limited land area close to the seaside, many apartment buildings have been developed in the city centre in the last few years in order to meet this demand.

With Nha Trang increasingly considered as a destination for the holiday-home market, many foreigners living in Nha Trang consider this area as their second home.

Individual investors can buy land lots in a good location, build their own villas and the lease them to expatriates.

Savills said that a total of 31 residential projects may come on line in the next few years.

Large project areas are expected to be developed in Vinh Thai and Phuoc Hai wards to the west of Nha Trang, accounting for more than 60 per cent of Nha Trang’s total future development area.

European hotel group Accor announced Wednesday the rebranding of its Novotel Dalat Hotel in Central Highlands

Dalat City to Mercure Dalat Hotel to highlight the historical value of the 77-year-old property.

The hotel, formally known as the Hotel Du Parc, is among 11 Vietnam-based hotels under the management of Accor, the largest international hotel operator in Vietnam.

“The hotel being re-branded as a Mercure is a strategic move that will allow the hotel to reflect its true personality with the city’s inimitable identity and heritage,” Patrick Basset, Accor’s deputy president for Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan, told The Saigon Times Daily.

Mercure is known for its facilities which blend classic and contemporary styles that reflect the hotel’s local personality. It is the second largest hotel network in the world, outside of North America, in terms of the number of rooms.

Built in 1932 at the heart of Dalat City, the 144-room hotel is equipped with premium in-room amenities, en suite bath or shower, satellite TV and complimentary WiFi internet access.

The property will maintain its French colonial style and traditions while embracing some of Mercure’s worldwide brand traits.

Mercure Dalat marks its presence by offering packages starting from US$59++ per person for a standard room per night, $74++ per person for a superior room per night, and $109++ per person for a suite per night.

Known as honeymoon mecca in Vietnam, Dalat is popular among local and foreign tourists for its serene landscape, cool climate and a high concentration of charming old French-styled houses and villas.

Accor is one of the world’s leading hotel managers with a network of more than 4,000 hotels in 90 countries.

The group, which is managing 11 hotels across Vietnam under the Sofitel, Novotel and Grand Mercure brands, is planning to operate 20 hotels in the country by 2011.

Intercontinental Hotels Group will build the group’s first Holiday Inn franchise in Viet Nam’s capital city of Ha Noi.

The MB Real Estate Joint Stock Company (MBLand) completed legal procedures for the project.

Scheduled to open in 2013, the new hotel will be part of the MBLand’s tower and mixed-development complex that will house hotels, offices and a commercial centre. The complex will be located on Chua Boc Street, Dong Da District.

The 9,400sq.m tower will include 21 floors on a construction area of 75,000sq.m.

As planned, three traffic routes that link the big streets of Truong Chinh, Xa Dan and Nguyen Luong Bang will be built around the tower.

A subway station will also be set up at Chua Boc Street, in front of the MBLand tower. The station, if built, would help ease traffic congestion in the street.

The construction is expected to begin early next year.

The opening of the franchise will meet the growing demand for hotel rooms in Ha Noi. The city is expected to attract 2 million international travellers and 7 million domestic visitors next year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Marriott has has signed a contract to open its first Marriott Hotels & Resorts-branded hotel in Vietnam. The hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2013, will be Marriott International’s fifth property in the country. Construction is expected to start by year-end.

The 250-room Nha Trang Marriott Hotel will be located on Tran Phu Boulevard in the heart of Nha Trang City facing Nha Trang Bay, widely considered one the most beautiful bays in the world.

Guest rooms at the stylish and vibrant Nha Trang Marriott Hotel will be among the largest in the city. The vast majority will have balconies; all will offer beach views and all will feature bathrooms with separate tubs and showers. In-room amenities will include Marriott’s plush bed and bath linens and amenities; high definition, flat screen television; high-speed internet access; mini-bar and safe.

For dining and entertainment, the hotel will have a casual, all-day restaurant featuring a permanent buffet, a pool bar and specialty restaurant serving lunch and dinner, and a lobby lounge that will flow into the hotel’s spacious, open lobby.

Recreational amenities will include an outdoor swimming pool, a full-service spa including a relaxation lounge and four treatment rooms, a fitness center and a Marriott kids club.

Conference and social event space at the Nha Trang Marriott Hotel will comprise 670 square meters. The space will include a 500-square meter ballroom that will be divisible into three sections; two meeting rooms in varying configurations and a 40-square meter boardroom.

Known for its pristine beaches and as a top scuba diving center, Nha Trang is one of the most popular holiday destinations among residents and visitors to Vietnam. Nha Trang is a vibrant beach town that offers a multitude of things to do and see – from water sports, boating and fishing, to outdoor activities like cycling through the countryside and trekking in the mountains, to visiting historical and cultural sights such as the Po Nagar Cham Towers and the National Oceanographic Museum of Vietnam. Visitors to Nha Trang also enjoy fresh seafood and a lively nightlife scene on the beach. Nha Trang is served by Cam Ranh Airport, which is located approximately 30 kilometers south of the city and is slated to offer direct international flights in the coming years.

The Marriott International portfolio in Vietnam current consists of two hotels: the 336-room Renaissance Riverside Saigon Hotel and the 538-room New World Saigon Ho Chi City. Two JW Marriott-brand properties are under construction: the 450-room JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, scheduled to open in 2012 and the 271-room JW Marriott Danang Resort, planned to open in 2013.

HCMC – La Veranda Joint Venture Co., the owner of La Veranda Resort and Spa on Phu Quoc Island, on Wednesday clinched a deal with South Korea’s B.B. Dai Minh Corporation to jointly develop a hotel in HCMC.

“We will be investing together with B.B. Dai Minh for a new Ibis hotel in District 7,” said Jean-Pierre Gerbet, general director of La Veranda Joint Venture Co.

He told the Daily after the signing of the deal that the French company had invested in Viethan Hotel Joint Stock Co., which was set up by B.B. Dai Minh Corp. to develop the 3-star Ibis Saigon South Hotel project.

Lee Young Hoon, chief executive officer of B.B. Dai Minh Corp., said Viethan had planned around US$11 million for the hotel project and that this investment would be contributed by B.B. Dai Minh and La Veranda depending on their stakes in Viethan.

The Ibis Saigon South Hotel on Hoang Van Thai Street in the new urban town of Phu My Hung is scheduled for groundbreaking in March next year and opening in February 2012.

Lee said the company should have begun work on the hotel in 2008 but had had to delay it because the tourism industry had felt the pinch of the economic downturn.

B.B. Dai Minh was waiting for more major infrastructure and commercial projects inside and outside District 7 to go online to ensure that business of the Ibis hotel will fare well when it is up and running.

Gerbet also attributed the delay to the re-designing of the hotel project as this work took at least six months.

“I think 2010 will be a good time for us to begin construction on the Ibis hotel project,” Lee said. The hotel will have some 170 rooms as well as meeting rooms, a café, gym and bar, among others.

B.B. Dai Minh has hired Accor Group to manage the hotel with Ibis, which is one of the hotel brands of the international hotel operator. Accor now manages 11 hotels across Vietnam with such higher-grade brands as Sofitel, Novotel, MGallery and Mercure.

The Ibis Saigon South Hotel is expected to be the first operational property in Vietnam to bear Accor’s Ibis brand.
La Veranda is also teaming up with B.B. Dai Minh Corp. for other property projects in Vietnam, including a high-end resort on Phu Quoc Island off mainland Kien Giang Province and a 250-hectare LA Golf and Villas project in Long An Province in the Mekong Delta

Novotel Saigon Centre to open in the city centre

Ho Chi Minh City, November 30, 2009 – Vietnam’s largest international hotel operator, Accor, today announced the development of the Novotel Saigon Centre. The 350 room hotel is to be built in the city centre in District 1 and is scheduled to open in 2012.

Novotel Saigon Centre will be located on the site of the current Metropole Hotel, a well-recognised part of the Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) landscape. This highly visible location is steps from Ben Thanh Market and on the road connecting the market (Tran Hung Dao) to China Town. The hotel is surrounded by trendy retail and commercial buildings.

Patrick Basset –Vice President for Accor Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea and Japan, says “Accor is delighted to be continuing its expansion in Vietnam with this strategically located Novotel, which will be developed by The Que Huong – Liberty Group. Currently, Accor operates 4 Novotel’s throughout Vietnam – the most extensive network for any international 4 star brand in the country. The hotel will fulfill a demand for upscale international quality hotels, which has existed in Ho Chi Minh City for some time.”

Novotel Saigon Centre will feature 2 restaurants, a street bar, roof level Executive Club lounge, outdoor swimming pool and kids pool, fitness centre, business centre, Web Corner on a Mac and 900 square metres of flexible event space. The 24-storey hotel will offer magnificent views of the city and Saigon River. The guestrooms will adopt the latest innovations of the Novotel brand, including concept guestroom lighting, modern interiors and surfaces, 32-inch LCD television, and plug and play connectivity panel.

Novotel Saigon Centre will be the first hotel in Vietnam to incorporate louvers into the façade of the building, which by shading the building will improve energy consumption. The hotel is being designed by Kume Sekkei Architecture firm of Japan.

The Novotel brand globally is committed to achieving certification under Green Globe Sustainable Tourism. The first hotel in Vietnam to achieve this was Novotel Phan Thiet Ocean Dunes & Golf Resort along with a further 32 hotels within the Asia Pacific region.

The Que Huong – Liberty Group today owns 7 hotels in Ho Chi Minh City and intends to develop more hotels in the coming years throughout Vietnam. Novotel Saigon Centre will be the first new hotel development announced for Saigon in the many years to come and this will reinforce Accor’s leadership in the Vietnam hotel arena.

Novotel has 82 hotels throughout the Asia Pacific region today, with a further 28 hotels committed for development. Currently in Vietnam, Accor operates 11 hotels including four Novotel hotels – Novotel Phan Thiet Ocean Dunes and Golf Resort, Novotel Nha Trang, Novotel Dalat and Novotel Halong Bay.

Authorities of Hanoi City have allowed Kinh Bac City Development Shareholding Corporation (KBC) to replace a Japanese investor in an upscale hotel project worth some US$500 million in the capital city.

KBC under Saigon Invest Group will replace Japan’s Riviera Corporation in developing the Lotus Hotel project southwest of Me Tri Commune at a prime location on Pham Hung Road near the National Convention Center.

Riviera, which beat South Korea’s Keangnam Group and five other bidders to win the high-profile five-star Lotus Hotel project over two years ago, finally decided to quit the costly plan.

Under Riviera’s initial plan, construction on the project was scheduled for completion later this year or early next year, but in fact the project is still on paper now. As soon as Riviera announced its withdrawal from the project a few months ago, a host of domestic investors have expressed their readiness to develop the project.

KBC was chosen among many big domestic companies including the Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex), Hoang Thanh Investment and Infrastructure Development Corporation, and Thien Thanh Production Trade and Construction.

The project will undergo numerous changes under the new investor.

The Ministry of Construction has approved a height limit of 35 stories for the project instead of the initial plan of 15 stories. The total floor space will nearly quadruple to 300,000 square meters to include a five-star hotel of 800 rooms plus commercial facilities and offices.

KBC said that it would develop the project as a landmark in Hanoi, pledging to start work on the project next year. The first-phase development will be carried out within two years.

The company has also worked with banks and financial organizations to finance the project.

Years ago, Japan’s Riviera and South Korea’s Keangnam beat several other competitors to enter the final round, then the Japanese won the only ticket in March 2007 to develop the hotel. Authorities then expected the project would be completed in time for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi City.

Upon receiving the investment certificate in 2007, Riviera and its partners CSK Finance Company promised to complete the modern nine-floor complex with 550 rooms no later than the end of the second quarter of 2010. The construction density on the site was set at 20%.

KBC is an affiliate of the Saigon Invest Group in charge of developing real estate, industrial parks, resorts and deluxe residences.

The company in June asserted its ambition to further tap the hospitality industry by signing a letter of intent with Starwood Group under which the latter would manage two five-star hotels whose construction would begin next year by the former. These are Le Meridien Danang Resort & Spa in the central city of Danang and Sheraton Dalat Resort in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, whose combined investment amounts to US$140 million.

The development of deluxe resorts is a further bold step of KBC into the tourism industry following the company’s initial investment in several hospitality projects, including Robin Hill Resort in Dalat, Lagi Resort & Spa – Ham Tan in Binh Thuan, and Danang Luxury Resort in Danang.

This growth also signifies the diversification of Saigon Invest Group in various business fields and its long-term vision of the potential hospitality industry in Vietnam.

VietNamNet/SGT