Ascendas H-Trust's refurbished Osaka hotel reopens on April 1

ASCENDAS Hospitality Trust (A-HTrust) announced on Wednesday its refurbished Hotel Sunroute Osaka Namba in Japan will reopen on April 1.

The 698-room hotel was given a 1.14 billion yen (S$13.6 million) makeover over the past three months. Major renovation were made to the guest rooms, and its facade, lobby and restaurant were also refreshed with a "hip and trendy" look, the trust said.

Said the trust manager's CEO Tan Juay Hiang: "With the timely completion of the refurbishment, Hotel Sunroute Osaka Namba is well-positioned to benefit from the buoyant hospitality market in Osaka, which is a key commercial and leisure destination in Japan. With its excellent location in the vibrant precinct of Namba, we believe the refurbished hotel can achieve better performance under the management of our valued partner, Sunroute."

The value of the hotel has also increased significantly as a result, from 9.3 billion yen as at March 31 last year to 16.8 billion yen as at Dec 31, Mr Tan added. "The managers will continue to explore options and effectively execute the strategies to improve A-HTrust's portfolio and as a result, create value for our stapled securityholders."

In a separate announcement, the managers said the trust's net asset value of per stapled security would have been 84.2 Singapore cents as at Dec 31, following the completion of independent valuations. This is up from the figure of 70.3 Singapore cents given in its third-quarter announcement.