Crowne Plaza Kota Kinabalu Waterfront

The TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database reveals that IHG’s prolific brand will launch dozens of hotels around the world over the next few years.

A total of 56 hotel schemes with 14,295 rooms will be rolled out in the coming years, our dedicated researchers have found.

Crowne Plaza targets APAC opportunities

The vast majority of Crowne Plaza’s expansion efforts are focused on APAC, where no fewer than 41 projects with 10,106 keys are being lined up. Second in our rankings is Europe (seven properties, 1,572 rooms), with the Middle East (six hotels, 2,230 keys) coming a close third, and North America (one scheme, 200 rooms) and Africa (one project, 187 keys) taking fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Crowne Plaza, of course, is part of British hotel giant IHG, and the brand clearly has ambitious plans to grow its international footprint before the year is out. Our data indicates that 20 schemes, accounting for 5,522 rooms in total, will be delivered over the course of 2022.

The number of scheduled completions will slow right down after that, with nine projects and 3,163 keys pencilled in to make their debut in 2023, and just four properties and 575 rooms earmarked for 2024. For 2025 and beyond, meanwhile, 23 hotels and 5,035 keys have been mooted thus far.

Reviewing the brand’s Malaysian pipeline

Now let’s take a closer look at the brand’s expansion efforts by focusing exclusively on what’s happening in one country in particular – Malaysia.

Crowne Plaza Kuala Lumpur City Centre, which is scheduled to open in Q3 2022, is currently being built out along the bustling Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. It’ll incorporate 338 rooms, a business centre, seven meeting rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, a fitness hub and multiple F&B options including a sky bar. Among the design practices working on this exciting newbuild are Arquitectonica – Manila (architecture), Zone Design Works (architecture) and GA Group – Kuala Lumpur (interiors).

Another newbuild property is currently under construction in Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo, with a view to launching in Q4 2022. Crowne Plaza Kota Kinabalu Waterfront will form part of a wider mixed-use development, and feature 367 rooms, a rooftop bar and restaurant, an outdoor pool, a spa, a 24-hour fitness centre and eight meeting spaces – not least a ballroom capable of holding up to 600 delegates at a time. Hasegawa & Xavier Associates and DP Architects are helping bring this stylish scheme to life.

Many TOPHOTELNEWS articles draw on exclusive information from the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database. This subscription-based product includes details of thousands of hotel projects around the world, along with the key decision-makers behind them. Please note, our data may differ from records held by other organisations. Generally, the database focuses on four- and five-star schemes of significant scale; tracks projects in either the vision, pre-planning, planning, under-construction, pre-opening or newly opened phase; and covers newbuilds, extensions, refurbishments and conversions.

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