[top photo: Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen]

By Tay Suan Chiang and Yusuf Abdol Hamid

Five mid-priced hotels

If you fancy staying at a hotel in town, there is room at the inn and for a reasonable price.

Affordable mid-range hotels have popped up around town, sitting nicely in between the swanky brand names and budget joints.

Since early this year, at least four wallet-friendly hotels, such as the Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen and the Park Hotel Clarke Quay, have opened to cater to price-conscious travellers.

And another two are set to open by the end of this year.

The mid-priced hotels are not as plush as the international brands in Orchard Road, but are a notch above the budget bracket by offering stylishly designed rooms, quality service and decent facilities, such as a pool or a cafe.

Quincy

Room rates range from $69 to $218 a night.

The increase in mid-priced hotels comes despite a drop in numbers in a key section of their market - tourists. About 780,000 visitors came to Singapore in April, a drop of 6.1 per cent in the same period last year.

However, the opening of new hotels in this price bracket is welcomed by Singaporeans such as housewife Melissa Lee, who is considering taking her two young children for a weekend stay at the Ibis, which opened in February with room rates starting from $121 a night.

'The pictures of the hotel look pretty and I know it will be a comfortable stay, without paying too much,' she says.

Despite the current drop in tourists, industry players feel there is still room for growth in the mid-priced hotel market.

The senior vice-president of marketing and public relations at CTC Holidays, Ms Alicia Seah, says: 'It is important to cater to expected growth from the region when the integrated resorts open to cater to the needs of leisure travellers.'

It was a different story just a year ago, when a boom in visitor figures led to a shortage in mid-priced hotel rooms. As a result, some tourists had to downgrade to budget hotels or be put up in hotels in Johor Baru in Malaysia and neighbouring islands such as Batam or Bintan in Indonesia.

There were a whopping 10.1 million visitors to Singapore last year, but this year the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) expects the number to fall to between nine million and 9.5 million.

Hotel room rates, too, have gone down. Average room rates for this April were $186, down from $256 the same month last year.

Despite falling visitor figures, hoteliers that Life! spoke to say they are confident of doing well.

The Ibis, the newest here of an economy hotel chain run by French hospitality giant Accor, is expecting a 75 per cent occupancy rate for this month, says Mr Evan Lewis, Accor Asia Pacific's vice-president for communications. Clients at the 538-room hotel are a mix of business and leisure travellers, with over 60 per cent coming from the Asian region.

Mr Lewis says of the expected occupancy rate for this month: 'This pleasing result is a combination of the Ibis brand recognition, price competitiveness and its central location.'

Quincy, a 108-room boutique hotel at Mt Elizabeth which opened in March, has been experiencing an occupancy rate of about 75 per cent since then, says its spokesman. For about 40 per cent of these few months, nine in 10 rooms were filled.

Guests pay a flat rate of $218++ a night, which includes a limousine pick-up from the airport, three meals at the hotel and free Internet connection.

Ms Ingrid Tedjakumala, an Indonesian art director, has stayed there twice and says she will stay at the hotel again.

She loves that the rate includes three meals, saying: 'After meetings, I don't have to wonder where to go or have to pay extra for dinner. I have it at the hotel and I head back to my room.'

Another new hotel is Aqueen, a 45-room hotel in Balestier Road, which opened last month.

For $78 a night, rooms come with free Internet access and local calls, tea and coffee-making facilities and bedroom slippers.

Its general manager, Mr Albert Leong, says he has a 'niche product that appeals to business executives and tourists looking for good value and service, clean and comfortable rooms in an accessible location'.

There is also the month-old Park Hotel Clarke Quay. Room rates are at $198++ a night. Its spokesman, Mr N. Gunalan, says bookings for the year are strong.