Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts announced on Monday the launch of a new hotel brand inspired by the virtual persona Jen, “a professional hotelier who loves life, travel and the adventure of discovering new places.”
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Hong Kong, is rebranding its Traders Hotels brand as Hotel Jen, which Shangri-La said will bring an intuitive service attitude and relaxed, friendly style. Hotel Jens will feature an informal check-in, stay and check-out. A sense of belonging will be reflected through a brand persona concept that positions guests as “friends of Jen.” The Hotel Jen “informed and friendly” service style will focus on guiding guests to the best of where they are, through local restaurant recommendations, under-the-radar sights and unusual boutiques. The Hotel Jen team will be a guest’s own personal local lifestyle guide. Hotel Jens will feature free Wi-Fi everywhere, all the time, and convenient mobile charging stations throughout the hotels. Hotel Jen’s restaurants will focus on fresh local products and free coffee/snack-box-to-go after breakfast and grab-and-go kiosks will be available.
“The Traders brand has had a 25-year history of success in generating solid business, carving out a niche amidst a highly competitive industry and building a loyal base of customers. However, we are looking to the future and based on extensive consumer research and insight into the way our target market lives and travels, including talking and listening to our customers, we are recognizing and responding to the global travel trends and particular needs of this new generation traveler. This will keep us relevant and competitive for the next 20 years to come,” said Greg Dogan, president and CEO of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.
The new midscale brand will launch quickly with ten Hotel Jens opening in major cities in Asia Pacific by March 2015. Hotel Jen Orchardgateway, opening in Singapore on September 15, will be the first Hotel Jen. In the first phase of the Hotel Jen rollout, the Traders hotels in Singapore, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Penang, Johor Bahru, Manila, Maldives, Beijing and Shenyang will be rebranded to Hotel Jen from September 2014 to March 2015. Future Hotel Jen development projects are under discussion in key gateway cities in South East Asia.
Click here to see the new brand’s website.