Global-hotel brand Tune Hotels announces further London expansion

Press release

New Canary Wharf property marks further investment in the capital’s hospitality industry

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 January, 2015. Tune Hotels, pioneers of the hotel industry’s ‘limited service’ model, will celebrate the opening of its fifth London hotel and the seventh in the UK next month.

The 130 room Tune Hotel Canary Wharf will open its doors to the public on 2 February, continuing its strategic focus on London. Shoreditch will be the home of the sixth London hotel in 2016 and details of further openings are currently being finalised, contributing new investment in excess of £40m in the capital.

Located in the heart of London’s financial district – 100m from West India Quay, beside Cannon Workshops on Hertsmere Road – Tune Hotel Canary Wharf is just a short walk from the major banks and financial institutions and is conveniently located for people flying in and out of London City Airport.

As well as serving London’s business community, the latest addition to Tune’s portfolio is ideally placed for the leisure market, with local attractions such as the O2, ExCeL and the Olympic Park on it’s doorstep. And, with a tube journey to Bond Street only taking 20 minutes from Canary Wharf, the hotel provides the perfect accommodation for those wanting to travel into ‘town’, without paying the price of a central London hotel.

The global chain, which already has six hotels in operation across the UK and opened a new hotel in Newcastle in late 2014, recently confirmed an expansion plan equivalent to £200m investment into the UK market. Unveiling plans to open 25 new properties by 2020, the company anticipates this will create significant employment growth in the hospitality sector.

Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels Group, said: “London is where we started in the United Kingdom and remains the heart of our expansion into the regions of the UK. There is no foreseeable saturation point for Tune Hotels in London as the capital offers so many locations where our value for money concept would be welcomed by domestic and international travellers alike, especially by those who are familiar with the concept from staying at our hotels in other countries. For this reason, London will continue to form a crucial part of our overall UK plans for growth.”

Tune Hotels focus on what guests really want, which research shows to be high quality beds, powerful showers, central locations, a clean environment and 24-hour security. Guests only pay for what they actually want and need, helping keep room costs low. Rooms at Tune Hotel Canary Wharf start at just £55 with special promotional rates from as low as £35 available throughout February 2015.

The new Tune Hotel Canary Wharf will feature interior design upgrades providing a unique guest ambience and technology support for the modern traveller including 40” flat screen TV’s.

Details on all Tune Hotels’ UK and worldwide hotels and latest rates, visit www.tunehotels.com or for real-time updates and promotional alerts on all UK hotels, stay connected via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsuk or on Twitter www.twitter.com/tunehotelsuk.

TAIPING WELCOMES TUNE HOTELS

Online release material

Latest hotel underscores commitment to tourism, Northern Corridor

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 May 2014 – International value hotel group Tune Hotels continues to boost its presence within Malaysia with the opening of a hotel in the heritage city of Taiping in the northern state of Perak, Malaysia.

The 113-room Tune Hotel Taiping, which is part of the Taiping Centre Point development, is located within the heart of a new business growth area of the city.

To celebrate the opening, rooms at Tune Hotel Taiping are being made available at promotional rates starting from only RM68 all-in per night, exclusively for online bookings via www.tunehotels.com. Bookings can be made from now until 25 May 2014, for immediate stay periods up to 24 Jul 2014. Promotional rooms are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Walk-in guests get to enjoy opening rates from as low as RM88 all-in per night for a limited period.

Group CEO of Tune Hotels Mark Lankester said: “Tune Hotels is delighted to be here in Taiping, underscoring our presence and growth in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. This city has a lot of potential for tourism both business and leisure and the opening is yet another show of our commitment towards the rapidly developing Northern Corridor. Visitors to Taiping, be it for leisure or business, can rest assured of an enjoyable, comfortable and affordable stay with Tune Hotel Taiping.”

 

The Northern Corridor Economic Region (Koridor Utara) is an economic transformation project that focuses on accelerating growth and income levels with the objective of becoming a world-class economic region by the year 2025. The corridor is made up of the states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak, where Taiping is located. Tourism is one of its key thrust areas alongside agriculture, manufacturing and logistics.

Famed for its tin-mining legacy, Taiping is easily accessible via the North-South Expressway, with Penang about 110 kilometres to the north and Kuala Lumpur 260 kilometres down south. One of the earliest stations of the British administration in the 19^thCentury, Taiping boasts a sizeable concentration of heritage buildings as well as the Taiping Lake Gardens, the first public garden established during British rule where the famous centuries-old rain trees can be found.

Taiping is also home to Malaysia’s oldest hill resort, the Maxwell Hill and the country’s first zoo, the Taiping Zoo & Night Safari. Nature lovers can head on to the world-renowned Royal Belum Forest where they can get up close with the rich diversity of flora and fauna and interact with the local aborigines Orang Asli community.

Mark added: “With its history and nature attractions, Taiping has long been a family holiday and adventure destination and now with all the developments in and around Taiping, we have noted a growing stream of business and leisure visitors to Taiping and its surrounding areas. With Tune Hotel Taiping, we look forward to welcoming holidaymakers and business travellers alike to enjoy our international class accommodation at affordable rates. Apart from standard double and twin-sharing rooms we have also included family rooms to suit the needs of families and group travellers.”

Tune Hotel Taiping is part of the new Taiping Centre Point development, located right across from the Taiping Sentral Mall and Tesco hypermarket and within minutes from the Columbia Asia Hospital. Within the development and surroundings on offer are a host of dining, entertainment, shopping and lifestyle options. It is only two kilometres away from the Taiping railway station, the country’s oldest and one of the most iconic.

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

More than five million people have stayed at Tune Hotels’ properties worldwide. There are 45 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook atwww.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels. 

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com. Guests can also choose to book via telephone at 1300 8888 63 (within Malaysia) or +603 7962 5888.

GUESTS GIVE TUNE HOTEL klia2 THE THUMBS UP

Online media release

‘Roomer Has It’ social media campaign launched to commemorate new hotel opening

SEPANG, 9 May 2014 – Tune Hotel klia2 saw a steady stream of guests checking in on its first day of operations today.

Guests met at the hotel today gave the thumbs up for the fresh new look and cool ambience.

Tony Head from Perth, Australia who was en route to Padang, Sumatera with his friends for their surfing vacation said: “We have stayed at the old LCCT hotel before but getting into the new Tune Hotel klia2 gives us a totally different kind of impression. The hotel looks sleek and we are sure to have a good rest tonight before catching our flight to Padang tomorrow.”

Another guest from Perth, Irene Tiong commended the hotel for its convenience and accessibility to the klia2 terminal. Tune Hotel klia Manager Hairul Maharis was at hand to welcome the guests.

Group CEO of Tune Hotels Mark Lankester said: “We’ve really listened to our guests over the last few years and have taken into account collaborative comments made to us in terms of how we can improve what we do. As a result, we have innovatively transformed the guestroom experience into a modern-style accommodation featuring the all-new room design with a sleek writing table, luggage platform and a 32-inch flat screen LED TV, bringing about an improved, sophisticated but cool ambience throughout the property. Business and leisure guests as well as airline passengers on extended waits will enjoy a totally improved experience and most importantly a very comfortable and refreshing stay.”

With 400 rooms, the hotel is directly connected to the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) terminal via a covered walkway and link bridge, allowing easy and convenient access to check-in counters as well as the Gateway@klia2 shopping mall.

To add to the guest experience and comfort, the hotel’s spacious lobby is designed to feature a cool casual seating lounge with free wifi, and an expansive open-air courtyard lounge, overlooked on the ground floor by a 24-hour restaurant and beverage centre. For guests with further transportation needs, the hotel includes a transport counter for overland transport needs and for flights, two AirAsia self check-in kiosks within the lobby for added convenience to hotel guests. For airline passengers the lobby area features flight information displays for up-to-date information on arrivals and departures.

Apart from overnight stays, guests on short transits can also opt for ‘Refresher Package’ at the hotel that is available between9.00 am to 6.00 pm daily and subject to availability of rooms. This option is only available for walk-in guests.

Meanwhile, Tune Hotels has launched a social media campaign to commemorate the opening of Tune Hotel klia2.  Called ‘Roomer Has It’, the campaign is run via Tune Hotels Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tunehotels.

Participants will need to claim the entire hotel by inviting their friends and families to claim a room in the hotel. The Top 10 participants with the most number of hotel rooms claimed are entitles for 10 complimentary rooms which they can share with their respective friends and join in Tune Hotels’ slumber party at Tune Hotel klia2 on 31 May 2014.

With an annual capacity of 45 million passengers, the klia2 is the world's largest purpose-built terminal dedicated for low cost carriers (LCCs). The new airport has commenced commercial operations since 2 May 2014, while the AirAsia Group moved its entire operations at LCCT to the klia2 effective today.

In terms of transport connectivity, the klia2 terminal boasts not only bus and taxi services but also the Express Rail Link KLIA Express train service that connects to and from Kuala Lumpur Sentral. For guests arriving at or departing from the KLIA Main Terminal, they can make use of the scheduled shuttle service via the Express Rail link that charges just RM2 one way and stroll over to the hotel via its covered link bridge and walkway.

For those who drive in, Tune Hotel klia2 has 167 parking bays which are conveniently located just a few steps away from the airport terminal.

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

There are currently 44 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook atwww.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels. 

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.

TUNE HOTEL klia2 OPENS 9 MAY

Latest airport hotel set to be Group’s largest, flagship property

SEPANG, 1 May 2014 – After five years providing high quality yet affordable accommodation to guests at KLIA’s Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) here, the Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will close down effective 9 May 2014, giving way to the brand new, 400-room Tune Hotel klia2 that will open on the same day.

 

Tune Hotel klia2 is directly connected to the new klia2 terminal via a covered walkway and link bridge. A short 10 minute walk is all that it takes to get to the terminal, allowing easy and convenient access to check-in counters as well as the Gateway@klia2 shopping mall.

 

With an annual capacity of 45 million passengers, the klia2 is the world's largest purpose-built terminal dedicated for LCCs that replaces the current LCCT. The new airport commences commercial operations on 2 May 2014, while the AirAsia Group will move its entire operations at LCCT to the klia2 on 9 May 2014.

 

Group CEO of Tune Hotels, Mark Lankester said: “We are extremely excited with this new hotel. To us and all our guests, the new Tune Hotel klia2 is as highly anticipated as the klia2 airport itself. It is set to be the largest in the Tune Hotels platform and will be our flagship property.”

 

He said guests with a booking at the Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will automatically be transferred to the Tune Hotel klia2 on 9 May 2014.

 

“Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT will operate until 8 May and for all bookings with dates of stay made up to 8 May, guests will remain at the current Tune Hotel KLIA-LCCT. To facilitate guest relocation, all in-house guests will be provided complimentary transfer to the klia2 terminal building and Tune Hotel klia2 on 9 May. For guests with bookings for 9 May and after, check-in will be at the Tune Hotel klia2,” Mark explained.

 

All affected guests will be notified by email. They can also get in touch with the Customer Care Team by emailing to enquiry@tunehotels.com or by calling 1300 88 8863 (within Malaysia) or +603 7962 5888 (from overseas).

 

To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel klia2, guests will be enjoying an all-in rate from only RM98 nett per room per night. Booking can be made from 2 May up to 4 May 2014 for stays at Tune Hotel klia2 from 9 May 2014 up to 31 January 2015. The offer is exclusively for online booking at www.tunehotels.com and is on a first come, first served basis.

 

“We’ve really listened to our guests over the last few years and have taken into account collaborative comments made to us in terms of how we can improve what we do. As a result, we have innovatively transformed the guestroom experience into a modern-style accommodation featuring the all-new room design with a sleek writing table, luggage platform and a 32-inch flat screen LED TV, bringing about an improved, sophisticated but cool ambience throughout the property. Business and leisure guests as well as airline passengers on extended waits will enjoy a totally improved experience and most importantly a very comfortable and refreshing stay,” said Mark.

 

Meanwhile, guests on short transits can opt for short stay ‘Refresher Package’ that is available between 9.00 am to 6.00 pm daily, subject to availability of rooms. This option is however only available for walk-in guests.

 

To add to the guest experience and comfort, he said, the hotel’s spacious lobby is designed to feature a cool casual seating lounge with free wifi, and an expansive open-air courtyard lounge, overlooked on the ground floor by a 24-hour restaurant and beverage centre. For guests with further transportation needs, the hotel includes a transport counter for overland transport needs and for flights, two AirAsia self check-in kiosks within the lobby for added convenience to hotel guests. For airline passengers the lobby area features flight information displays  for up-to-date information on arrivals and departures.

 

In terms of transport connectivity, the klia2 terminal boasts not only bus and taxi services but also the Express Rail Link KLIA Express train service that connects to and from Kuala Lumpur Sentral. For guests arriving at or departing from the KLIA Main Terminal, they can make use of the scheduled shuttle service via the Express Rail link that charges just RM2 one way and stroll over to the hotel via its covered link bridge and walkway.

 

For those who drive in, Tune Hotel klia2 has 167 parking bays which are conveniently located just a few steps away from the airport terminal.

 

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

 

There are currently 44 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.

 

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels. 

 

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.

TUNE HOTELS IS SOUTH EAST ASIA’s MOST IMPROVED BRAND!

KUALA LUMPUR,  7 April 2014 – In yet another global achievement, international value hotel brand Tune Hotels has been recognised as the ‘Most Improved Brand’ as measured in the most recent BDRC Hotel Guest Survey for South East Asia.

 

The Hotel Guest Survey Programme, managed by UK-based independent research consultancy BDRC Continental, is widely acknowledged as the definitive measure of hotel brand performance worldwide.

 

Conducted annually in 35 countries, the surveys are based on nationally representative samples of business and leisure hotel guests domiciled in each market. The surveys track all major international and domestic hotel brands.

 

“The ‘Most Improved Brand’ award, derived from the survey data, is based on a composite measure of performance, which includes survey metrics such as unaided brand awareness, prompted brand recognition, usage in the last 12 months and Top 2 choice hotel brand,” explained Matthew Costin, Managing Director  of BDRC Continental.

 

“In this year’s survey of travellers in South East Asia, Tune Hotels made significant gains and is now among the top 5 most widely used brands by business hotel guests,” he added.

 

Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels said: “This is a very significant award for Tune Hotels. To be recognised as the ‘Most Improved Brand’ for South East Asia means a lot to us. This is where we started and is our natural playground, and we will continue with our commitment to grow in the region.”

 

“To learn that Tune Hotels is among the top 5 most widely used brands by business travellers gives my team and I a great deal of satisfaction. We’ve worked hard to evangelise that great quality value-for-money hotels in central locations play a strong role in assisting business owners and their teams to grow their businesses, better control the cost of doing business and actually seek out and become cross regional entities,” added Lankester.

 

“This award crystallises what a hotel platform can achieve for both business and leisure guests across the existing 42 cities and destinations across Asia-Pacific especially in South East Asia, as well as the United Kingdom, and at the same time keep our guests happy,” he said.

 

Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation at central locations and focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, ballrooms and convention halls. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to keep costs low and pass on savings to its guests.

 

There are currently 42 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.

 

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

 

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, like L.E.N.S. blogs on Facebook. 

 

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.