Sunway City Ipoh to open luxury retreat and budget hotels

KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway City (Ipoh) Sdn Bhd is expected to open the doors of its exclusive five-star Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat in Tambun, Perak by year-end, according to Sunway City Bhd senior general manager Ong Pang Yen.

The first phase of the luxury spa retreat by the natural hot springs will include 25 villas targeted at international guests. “We hope to really put Ipoh on the map with this,” said Ong, adding that he expects an average occupancy to be around 60% to 70%
.
CEO of Sunway International Hotel and Resorts Hanley Chew said the total land area for the retreat would span approximately 16 acres with a total built-up area of 95,513 sq ft.

“This includes the 'caves' which will be designed for meditation and steam baths,” he said, adding that the price range for various packages at the spa would be around US $3,000 (approximately RM10,500) for between three to five nights stay.

Sunway City is also commencing construction on a 100-room value-for-money hotel in The Lost World of Tambun, a theme park development by Sunway.


An artist's impression of The Lost World Hotel

The Lost World hotel is on a 186,611 sq ft site and the building will have a total gross floor area (GFA) of 47,005 sq ft.
Known thus far as “The Lost World Hotel” in line with the theme park, the hotel is expected to see occupancy rates at 70% and will be completed in 2011. Room rates are expected to range between RM120-RM150 a night.

“We had originally planned to develop shop-offices on this plot of land, but our primary research showed that visitors to the theme park wanted value-for-money accommodation,” said Ong. “Since the theme park has matured substantially, we thought it a good move to build a hotel.”

Its primary clientele is expected to be mainly vacationing families and corporations conduction team-building activities.

The Lost World of Tambun spans a land area of approximately 1,300 acres of which only 500-600 acres are usable as the rest are hilly areas. According to Ong, the development should be completed by 2015.

“We began development in 1996, but due to the Asian financial crisis operations were suspended for five years. The project was revived in 2002,” said Ong. “In our masterplan, we have approval for 3,000 residential units. Today, 1,200 units are already developed.”