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KUALA LUMPUR: London-based Aseana Properties Limited (ASPL) officially launched the Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral on March 22, the first of Starwood Hotel and Resorts Worldwide Inc's Aloft brand of hotels in Malaysia.
The Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral (Aloft) is a 30-storey tower that offers 482 rooms with sizes of 355 sq ft and above. The hotel will be managed by Ireka Development Management Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Ireka Corporation Bhd.
Completed in Feb 2013 and located adjacent to the KL Sentral Station, Aloft will offer guests free wireless internet access throughout the property, 42" flat-screen LCD TVs in each room, an 8,396 sq ft ballroom, six meeting rooms with 3,968 sq ft of space, a 24-hour food and beverage area, a fitness centre and a rooftop infinity swimming pool.
Average room rate during the first year is RM380 with a targeted occupancy rate of 65% during the same period.
According to Datuk Mohammad Azlan Hashim, Chairman of ASPL, Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral will complement the city's hospitality industry with its dynamic blend of decor, music, design and technology.
"We are delighted to be part of this milestone development of the first Aloft in Malaysia, which is the largest Aloft hotel in the world to date," he said.
Aloft will target the strong corporate market which the area is known for. It expects 30% of its guests to be from the corporate industry with 20% from Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE). This demographic of guests is expected to solidify with the opening of two new office blocks next to Aloft adding to the attractiveness of the area.
The management brought forward the date of the operation by a week so it could accommodate the Mercedez-Benz Stylo Fashion Grand Prix 2013.
"Judging from the response that we received before we opened, this hotel will do very well in terms of conventions and the use of its ballroom," said Lai Voon Hon, president cum CEO of Ireka Development Management Sdn Bhd.
Chuck Abbott, regional vice president of South East Asia added that currently, Starwood has about 40 Aloft hotels in development all over the world with 200 existing hotel brands in Asia Pacific. In addition, the company expects to double that amount of hotels in the Asia Pacific region in three to five years from now.
ASPL is a London-listed company focusing on property development opportunities in Malaysia and Vietnam. It is a 23%-owned associate company of Ireka Corp. Its portfolio includes i-Zen@Mont’Kiara, 1 Mont' Kiara, SENI Mont'Kiara in Mont'Kiara, Kuala Lumpur and the International Hi-Tech Healthcare Park in Vietnam.
