Making a brand name for itself

The banquet hall of the Kerry Hotel Pudong, Shanghai. Provided to China Daily

Shangri-La Hotel Group's new brand, Kerry Hotel, will open its second hotel in Beijing later this year, by re-branding the current Shangri-La Kerry Center.

"Our re-branding follows a multi-million dollar renovation project of updated facilities in a chic yet comforting setting, while our spirited service style will continue to be a distinguishing hallmark of the hotel and the Kerry brand", says Johnson Wong, general manager of Shangri-La's Kerry Center Hotel, Beijing.

The opening will come after the Kerry's first establishment, which was in Shanghai's Pudong district. And it plans to open more in coming years, the hotel group says.

"We anticipate having 10 Kerry Hotels by 2015," Kent Zhu, group director of sales and marketing of Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd, says.

"Exact locations will be announced when appropriate."

The plans reveal the group's appetite for a bigger slice of the luxury hotel market and its strategy of ambitious yet cautious planning.

Kerry Hotels appeal to the business traveler who prefers a vibrant and relaxed environment without compromising service or quality.

The hotels are contemporary in style and provide a seamless link between business, entertainment and recreation. Extensive leisure facilities are designed to create social activity hubs for both hotel guests and the local community, Zhu says.

His sentiments are echoed by Ed Brea, general manager of Kerry Hotel Pudong, Shanghai.

"With such cutting-edge, unique facilities and services, the community around us has embraced the hotel as a part of the local neighborhood with enthusiasm, a situation for which we're extremely appreciative and humbled," Brea says.

Kerry Hotels feature unique facilities and services that enable hotel guests to enjoy an environment for achieving "work-life" balance. They provide guests, visitors and members a sense of community, very much like being at home.

"Community families can come along to its sports club and their kids can play at the Adventure Zone, the indoor children's playground," Brea says.

"Unwinding at the hotel's craft brewery, where beers are freshly made on the premises by a resident brew master or relaxing in the spa, with massages inspired by wushu traditions are all lucrative options."

Brea and the staff are proud of the hotel's capacity and potential to develop meeting, incentive, exhibition and event (MICE) projections in this financial hub.

The hotel was thrust into the limelight when it hosted the recent press conference for basketball star Yao Ming's retirement announcement.

Its location next to the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC), Shanghai's busiest trade exhibition venue, generates steady business for its meetings and banqueting facilities. They are the largest such facilities among the city's hotels, at more than 7,300 square meters.

The Kerry Parkside complex has scheduled more openings this summer and fall. They include serviced apartments, an office tower and a shopping mall.

Shangri-La has three distinctive brands: the Shangri-La luxury brand, the mid-market Traders and Kerry Hotel. Standards and services are clearly defined for the brands, the group says.

Kerry Hotels are five-star. Standards for hardware, facilities and service are what one would expect from a luxury hotel but are provided in a more understated, relaxed and subdued setting.

"We are extremely blessed in the sense that we have owners who do not compromise on quality standards in design and construction when developing our hotels," Brea says.

"It is our responsibility, therefore, to drive and constantly work on maintaining equally high standards in the quality of service."