The 442-room airport hotel commenced the upgrade in June this year and expects it to be completed by March next year.
PAN Pacific KLIA, a hotel owned by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, has started a RM56 million makeover that will see the property incorporate hi-tech gadgets and digital components.
“What we are doing is bringing the hotel to a 21st Century state by taking advantage of modern technology,” general manager Hans Winsnes said.
The 442-room airport hotel commenced the upgrade in June this year and expects it to be completed by March next year.
“We will be fully refurbished by March-end in 2013, in time for the Formula 1 Grand Prix (in Sepang),” Wisnes told Business Times in a recent interview.
Of the RM56 million, 60 per cent will go towards furniture and fittings while the remaining 40 per cent will be for mechanical and engineering works.
Winsnes expects return on investment on the RM56 million makeover to take 11 years.
The guest rooms will be fitted with IPTV. “With this, we will have a lot more content to offer in terms of entertainment,” he said.
The hotel is also working on playing its part in reducing the carbon footprint. After successfully installing the Inncom room ambiance control system (Inncom) in 1998, it plans to make a further RM6 million investment into an upgraded fully operated system.
“We spent RM2.7 million on Inncom which saw the hotel’s utility bill come down and see full payback on the system within three years,” he said.
Staff at Pan Pacific, who now bring three times more revenue than they did when it opened 14 years ago, have not been forgotten.
One example is in housekeeping. The hotel is installing an Ezi-Maid, a bed-lifting system which allows beds to be made easily without the need for much bending.
At the same time, once the bed is raised, it allows vacuuming under the bed.
Meanwhile, Winsnes said that the hotel’s performance this year will be better than last year’s despite the ongoing works.
Pan Pacific expects the occupancy to decline to 62.8 per cent and achieve an ARR of RM380 for 2012 as it undergoes the refurbishment exercise. Revenue for the year is projected to be RM80 million.
In 2011, the hotel finished the year with an average occupancy of 68.4 per cent and an ARR of RM347. It chalked up a revenue of RM76 million.
Once the entire makeover is completed in the first quarter of 2013, the hotel’s performance is expected to improve further as occupancy hits 65.1 per cent and ARR will improve to its highest level at RM408 a night.
Source: Business Times Dated: 24/08/2012
