Two of Singapore’s relatively recent hotel openings were an unusual first venture into city properties by luxury beach resort specialists Six Senses, with the group signing a management contract for a pair of properties owned by The Garcha Group.
Six Senses Duxton, formerly The Duxton Hotel, opened first in April 2018, with neighbouring hotel Six Senses Maxwell following in January 2019.
With the hotel industry facing extremely tough times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was revealed that Six Senses had withdrawn its management contract for the two hotels on 31st May 2020, casting some doubt over their future.
It’s back to Marriott
When The Duxton Hotel was being renovated in 2016, it was in fact the Starwood / Marriott group that originally laid claim to the property, announcing it would mark the Singapore debut of The Luxury Collection Hotels and Resorts brand.
The deal with Marriott fell through, with the promised 2017 opening never happening. It wasn’t until late January 2018 that Six Senses issued a press statement announcing this was to be their first city centre hotel, with the Maxwell property joining later.
Now that Six Senses has exited the Singapore market, it’s been confirmed by The Garcha Group that Marriott will take over the management of both hotels, under its Autograph Collection range.
“We are very proud to announce that we are now part of the Autograph Collection, a curated collection of remarkable independent hotels across the world by Marriott International.”
Harpreet Bedi, CEO The Garcha Group
These will be the first two Autograph Collection hotels in Singapore, joining only seven such properties in Asia-Pacific.
Marriott describes its Autograph Collection of independent luxury hotels as “a curated collection of boutique hotels from around the world that share a passion for originality and a philosophy of attention to detail”. That seems to fit well with the unique nature of these two hotels.
Our readers may be familiar with the group’s Majestic Hotel, a colonial-style property in Kuala Lumpur.
These will be 13th and 14th Marriott group hotels in Singapore, joining these existing properties:
- Courtyard Singapore Novena
- The Warehouse Hotel
- Four Points by Sheraton
- JW Marriott (see our review)
- Le Méridien (Sentosa)
- Marriott Tang Plaza
- Sheraton Towers
- The St. Regis
- The Ritz-Carlton
- The Vagabond Club
- W Singapore (Sentosa)
- The Westin
The Vagabond Club, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel, is also owned by The Garcha Group.
Our review
No renovation is planned, with these two hotels in Singapore being relatively newly completed. Our review of the Six Senses Duxton in 2018 should therefore remain very representative of what you can expect when it reopens as The Duxton Reserve Hotel, Autograph Collection.
The Maxwell property will reopen as The Maxwell Reserve Hotel, Autograph Collection.
Opening
The hotels should open their doors under new branding in 2021, however food and beverage outlets, including Yellow Pot at the Duxton property, should be back in business later this year.
These additional redemption and earning options will no doubt be welcomed by Marriott Bonvoy members, and we think Autograph Collection is a more suitable long-term ‘fit’ for these historic colonial properties.
Source: CNA Lifestyle
(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)
Vagabond, Tribute Portfolio also owned by Garcha group.
Thanks yes I thought it was part of Garcha too. Will add that in!