New hotel group sets sights on upscale resort development in China
04 July 2012
The Beijing Tourism Group (BTG) and international hotel management group GHM have formalized a joint venture partnership and announced plans to launch an upscale resort concept branded Ahn Luh. The partners, together with a third investor, the Great Ocean Group (GOG), said the group’s first properties will debut in the next two to three years.
The Ahn Luh brand was created by BTG chairman Duan Qiang, GOG founder Whitney Duan, and resort visionary Adrian Zecha, who founded Amanresorts and co-founded GHM with Hans R. Jenni.
In Ahn Luh’s pipeline are hotels in Beijing, the Pearl River Delta and Southwest China. Ahn Luh’s hotels will come to market as 50- to 100-room and villa properties, featuring 60-square meter (over 645 square foot) rooms and 120-square meter (over 1,291 square foot) suites. As a complement to each hotel’s spa, a resident Tai Chi master will manage an on-site Tai Chi Centre.
Other distinguishing features include “dian xin” breakfast, an all-day Chinese-style tapas bar, indoor and outdoor pools, a library and cigar lounge, airport concierges, and a fleet of Wi-Fi-enabled cars. Each hotel will also house a retail shop selling regional goods, as well as traditional Chinese medicine. Some Ahn Luh properties will include private villas and residences. All will feature meetings facilities.
As an equal, joint venture partner with GHM, the BTG is China’s first provincial-level, wholly state-owned tourism enterprise, as well as the country’s largest tourism group. Established in 1998, BTG oversees the investment and management of various areas within the tourism and hospitality industry. Meanwhile, established in 1992, GHM Holdings Ltd (GHM) has properties worldwide, including The Nam Hai Hoi An in Vietnam, The Chedi Muscat in Oman and The Strand Yangon in Myanmar. Lastly, founded in 1996, Great Ocean Group (GOG) is a private holding company headquartered in Beijing.
