InterContinental Singapore in Bugis to close; Frasers-owned property to be rebranded
Marriott International is understood to have been shortlisted to operate the 406-room, 16-storey hotel
[SINGAPORE] The InterContinental Singapore will shut its doors from 2026, and the Frasers-owned property is expected to be rebranded.
News of the shophouse-style luxury hotel’s closure comes ahead of the October delisting of Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT), which owns the asset.
At an investors’ meeting one month ago to vote on the privatisation scheme, Frasers’ management had pointed to poorer performance at “upper-class hotels in Singapore such as InterContinental Singapore”.
In response to queries from The Business Times, IHG said on Monday (Sep 15) that InterContinental Singapore “will exit the IHG system on Dec 31, 2025, as the hotel management agreement comes to an end”.
Frasers Hospitality and FHT said in a joint statement that the property will continue operations and remain a key asset of Frasers Hospitality, without elaborating further.
“Any change in hotel operator is part of Frasers Hospitality’s active asset management strategy. Further updates will be shared in due course.”
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BT understands that, sometime this year, Frasers was looking to appoint another operator for the 406-room, 16-storey hotel in Bugis. It is unclear if a new operator has been selected, but Marriott International is understood to have been shortlisted.
E-mails sent to hotel guests and loyalty members of IHG, which owns the InterContinental brand, stated that reservations booked for stays in January 2026 will be honoured, travel loyalty programme website LoyaltyLobby reported.
The Bugis area property is owned by FHT, which will be delisted on Oct 6, 2025, after its sponsor Frasers Property offered to buy the business trust out at S$0.71 per stapled security, citing the trust’s struggle to boost distributions and growth amid economic headwinds.
At a meeting for FHT’s stapled securityholders in August, investor Terence Yeo said they may not be “receiving the best deal” for FHT’s proposed privatisation, given that the trust’s properties such as Intercontinental Singapore and Frasers Suites Singapore “provide FHT with a stable income” and the business trust was likely to benefit from predicted cuts to interest rates which “will promote business expansion and tourism”.
Eric Gan, chief executive officer of FHT’s manager, said in response that it was “untrue” that the hospitality industry is performing well.
Although some hotels are doing well, this may not be the case for “upper-class hotels in Singapore such as InterContinental Singapore, as there may be a mismatch in the profile of inbound travellers and profile of a property’s targeted guests segment due to price sensitivity and elasticity of demand”, he said.
According to minutes from the Aug 15 meeting, released in a filing with the Singapore Exchange on Sep 14, Gan added that due to the appreciation of the Singapore dollar, some business or leisure travellers staying in these premium accommodations are now finding it more costly to stay in such premium hotels, hence impacting the demand dynamics.
In its third-quarter business update issued in August, FHT reported a 5.6 per cent decrease in revenue per available room to S$242 for properties in its Singapore market, from S$256 in the year-ago period. FHT’s other Singapore asset, Fraser Suites Singapore, is a 255-key serviced apartment in River Valley.
As at Apr 30, the Intercontinental Singapore property was valued at S$519 million, or S$1.3 million per key.
In total, FHT holds eight hotels and six serviced residences across Australia, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the UK and Singapore. For the first half of its financial year ended Mar 31, it posted a 6 per cent drop in distribution per stapled security to S$0.010257 from S$0.01091 a year ago, due to lower net property income and higher finance costs.
First opened in 1995, InterContinental Singapore was put up for sale in 2006, reportedly at S$200 million, or S$500,000 per room. The 99-year leasehold property was 90 per cent owned by CapitaLand and Keppel Land, with IHG holding the remaining 10 per cent.
The hotel was sold for S$196.3 million in 2006 to US-based Pacific Coast Assets, an entity owned by Frasers Property’s current chairman emeritus Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. Sirivadhanabhakdi also controls TCC Group, the massive conglomerate containing his family’s holdings across beverage, real estate, consumer goods and retail companies.
In 2014, both Intercontinental Singapore and Frasers Suites Singapore were injected into a portfolio of assets to form Frasers Hospitality Trust. At the time, InterContinental Singapore was divested for S$497.1 million and Frasers Suites Singapore for S$327 million.
The Bugis exit leaves the IHG group – which owns 20 hotel brands ranging from Six Senses to Holiday Inn – with one remaining InterContinental property in Singapore at Robertson Quay, owned by the Royal Brothers’ RB Capital Group.
In its statement sent to BT, IHG said Singapore is a key market for the group, with 13 hotels across six brands. “We remain committed to growing our presence with the right brands in the right locations which includes the upcoming Hotel Indigo Changi Airport,” it added.
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