Heralding heritage hotels

WHEN you're constantly assaulted by the non-stop crowds and frenetic tourist activity on Paris's most famous drag - Champs Elysees - it's easy to walk right past your hotel without even noticing it. Especially when the only hint you have that it's a hotel is the tiny gilded entrance and an even more discreet sign that says Le Claridge.

There isn't even a sign to say that it's a Fraser Suite or any hint that the upscale boutique hotel/serviced apartment is part of Frasers Hospitality's European portfolio, because its heritage status doesn't allow for it, says the Singapore company's CEO, Choe Peng Sum.

While Asian-owned or managed hotel properties isn't a new phenomenon, the concept of a Singapore hotel group which takes an active role in conserving its heritage properties in Europe is less well-known. But it seems to be a growing trend led by Frasers Hospitality, which has taken crumbling old buildings in Paris, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh and restored them to their former glory, turning them into elegant hotels in the process.