The 61-year-old Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central will undergo a US$100 million renovation demonstrating the company’s continued faith in Hong Kong as a premier tourism destination, the group’s chief executive has said, dismissing suggestions the city suffered from a negative image overseas. In an exclusive interview with the Post, Laurent Kleitman, group chief executive of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, said a number of facilities would be revamped and offerings improved over the next 18 months, despite growing global economic tensions fuelled by the US-China trade war that could affect international travel to Hong Kong. The company will simultaneously undertake a US$100 million facelift of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Bangkok. Kleitman said Hong Kong remained an attractive gateway for business, cultural interactions and tourism, as reflected by a series of mega-events the city held last month, ranging from the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament and concerts at the new Kai Tak Stadium to art shows such as Art Basel. As for the hotel, it remained an integral part of the city’s cultural dynamism, he added. “In 1963 when the Mandarin opened, one of the quotes a reporter wrote in the South China Morning Post was that the speed of the lifts was mesmerising and described it as a ‘space age hotel’,” he said. “With so many historical facts about the place, we continue to invest in the property because we are confident about the future.” The hotel, along with the entire city, has been through a roller-coaster ride in recent years, weathering the social unrest in 2019, the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the ongoing trade war between the United States and the rest of the world. Asked whether negative perceptions of Hong Kong overseas had improved, Kleitman said they had and business travel had recovered, including from Europe and the US. “The image of Hong Kong is good and will continue to improve,” he said. “I was in France a few weeks ago, and we were doing a lot of work with the French authorities to promote the image of Hong Kong. There are a lot of businesses that come and want to establish themselves in Hong Kong.” Kleitman himself returned to the city last week for the first time in two years after he took up the chief executive role in 2023, saying he felt a marked difference in the city’s “vibe”. “I feel the vibe is improving dramatically. I remember that the day I visited here was when masks were lifted in 2023. It was very quiet and there was not a lot of movement. Look at what we are, two years after that. This city is incredibly resilient and the buoyancy, the vibrancy that we see today is a good sign of what it’s going to be in the next decade.” The renovation will be the latest major facelift for the Mandarin Oriental since 2004. It also compliments sister company Hongkong Land’s US$1 billion project in modernising Landmark-branded properties in Central over a three-year period from 2024. Competition in the local hotel and hospitality industry has heated up, notably with the debut of the 413-room Rosewood Hotel in 2019 on the opposite side of Victoria Harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui, in addition to changes in travellers’ behaviour, particularly the demand for more experience-led travel. Kleitman welcomed the competition, saying it prompted the industry to improve its offerings. “Competition is very good, it calls for a diversity of offerings,” he said, adding he was confident the Mandarin group would meet the challenge of retaining customer loyalty. “We have more loyal guests than any of our competitors,” he said. The creation of 11 serviced flats would cater to patrons staying for a longer duration, he said. “There are family businesspeople, who come to work for a few months before they become residents,” he said. The addition of the new flats and expansion in the size of suites meant that the number of guest rooms would decrease from 447 to 428. Kleitman said some of the suites would be turned into “corner rooms” to maximise views of Central and the harbour. Other changes would involve enlarging the lobby area by relocating concierge counters, while a “secret bar” would be built in the existing lounge area. “We will retain the bespoke design by keeping the black marble walls,” he said. Culinary services would be enhanced through redesigning the busy Cake Shop, “the beating heart of Central”, he said, on the mezzanine floor and creating a 20-seat “omakase” pizza bar where customers could leave order details with the chef. Kleitman said the renovation work would take time to be completed but the cake shop would continue to offer services. The hotel would also open a new French restaurant by New York-based Michelin-star chef Daniel Boulud at the top of the Landmark Prince’s connected to the hotel with a footbridge. The space for the new restaurant used to be occupied by the trendy Sevva restaurant, which shut down last year. In Bangkok, the Mandarin Oriental hotel will have new garden wings in the coming months, following an upgrade of its river wings in 2019. The entire expansion will cost an estimated US$100 million. Economist Simon Lee Siu-po of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said Central and Tsim Sha Tsui remained “the heart of Hong Kong”, and there was still demand for top tier hotels in the city. “There are rising numbers of visitors from Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and elsewhere coming to Hong Kong, who will want top tier hotels, dining and shopping experiences,” he said.