HICAP awards dealmaking, sustainability, star power

SINGAPORE – Awards for Deal of the Year, Development of the Year. Single Asset Transaction, Sustainable Hotels, Lifetime Achievement and Rising Star were announced last week at the 34th annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Singapore at the Fairmont Singapore & Swissotel The Stamford.

The HICAP Reggie Shiu Development of the Year Award went to the Six Senses Kyoto in Japan

Here’s a roundup of the winners:

The Reggie Shiu Development of the Year:Six Senses Kyoto in Kyoto, Japan
As the brand’s debut in Japan, the Six Senses Kyoto, developed by Samty Co. and Wealth Management, is a landmark project that opened in April 2024 with an undisclosed development cost. The hotel blends luxury with cultural authenticity, overcoming pandemic-related challenges and budget pressures.

Design features LEED Silver sustainability and incorporates Kyoto’s rich heritage through biophilic elements, cultural artifacts, and locally sourced materials. Finalists in the category also included lyf Ginza Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan and Andaz Macau in Macau, China.

HICAP Single Asset Transaction winner: The QT Singapore

Single Asset Transaction of the Year: QT Singapore Hotel
Located in the heart of Singapore, an iconic heritage building, previously known as Hotel Telegraph on 35 Robinson Road, was revitalized through a strategic acquisition by Phoenix Property Pte Ltd from Viva Ventures So Pte Ltd for an undisclosed price, marking a significant milestone in the regeneration of Singapore’s Central Business District.

The acquisition team had to not just deal with ownership transfer, but also operator change, financing, and planning of extensive asset enhancement initiatives, within a four-month deal period from the Letter of Intent to the completion, which was on 30 November 2023. With the planning of complex coordinating work with international stakeholders, the acquisition team managed to not just close the deal but also get QT Singapore Hotel’s doors open in just nine months from the point of completion. Finalists in the category also included Phoenix Seagaia Resort in Miyazaki, Japan and Adina Perth Barrack Plaza in Perth, WA, Australia.

HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert Hecker, managing director, Pacific Asia, Horwath HTL
The award recognizes exceptional individuals who have distinguished themselves through their accomplishments and contributions to expanding, enhancing, and advancing the hotel industry in the Asia Pacific region and the world.

Hecker manages the Pacific Asia arm of Horwath HTL with offices in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta. Since his arrival in the region with Horwath HTL in 1988, he has developed an extensive background and expertise in the developing hotel and tourism industries through his direct involvement in the planning and analysis of projects across the region.

He has 45 years of experience, including work in hotel operations with Pacific Plaza Hotels in northern California and conducting market and financial analyses for hotels, resorts, cruise ships, convention centers, conference centers, and restaurants with Laventhol and Horwath in San Francisco. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and published numerous research articles in industry publications.

The HICAP ISHC Rising Star Award went to Stella Blythe, CBRE

ISHC Rising Star Award: Stella Blythe, director, Hotels and Hospitality, Asia, CBRE
The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) in partnership with HICAP, awarded Stella Blyth the Rising Star Awars Asia Pacific.

Based in Singapore, Blythe is a director in the CBRE Hotels & Hospitality Capital Markets team covering Asia. With over a decade of experience, she has a proven track record in hospitality and real estate, spanning transactions, capital markets, valuation, consultancy, and operations. Her deep market knowledge has enabled her to advise on high-profile deals, including the sale of a 300-key Singapore hotel and a 120-villa Maldivian resort in 2023.

Prior to joining CBRE, Stella spent seven years at Savills, initially at the global headquarters in London in a valuation role handling sizable valuations and hospitality advisory assignments across EMEA, before moving to Singapore in 2019 and changing her focus to brokerage and investment sales in Asia.

Sustainable Hotel Awards

The awards are designed to recognize hotels in the Asia Pacific region creating innovative new methods, strategies, and technologies to face today’s sustainable development challenge, while providing tangible examples of sustainable best practices that can be replicated and adapted across the region.

The HICAP Building, Renovation, Preservation, Adaptive Reuse, Conversion award went to Crystalbrook Kingsley, Newcastle, Australia

Building, Renovation, Preservation, Adaptive Reuse, Conversion: Crystalbrook Kingsley, Newcastle, Australia
This adaptive reuse of a 130-room luxury hotel that was once a Council Administration Centre and is a result of architectural sensitivity, impressive circularity, design precision, and sustainability-linked financing. The renovation retains the 1977 architectural features of the original building. Circularity is actualized with a deconstruction approach that recycles and repurposes as much as possible, maximizing material salvage and diverting 900 tons of waste. The hotel sources recycled timber, wool carpets, and eco-friendly furnishings from local suppliers. A system processes on-site food and waste, turning it into compost-like material. Smart occupancy lighting and air conditioning enhance both energy and operational efficiency.

Climate & Biodiversity Action: Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam
This resort is located in Khanh Hoa, Vietnam. The 62 pool villas and overwater bungalows, several bars, and restaurants are on the beach, over the water, between the rocks, or perched on the mountainsides. Since 2022, Ninh Van Greens, the first in-resort solar farm in Vietnam, has consistently provided electricity, organic produce, and hot water for the resort. Guests are invited to share the responsibility by offsetting their carbon footprint, or by joining the resort on their three major sustainability projects: black-shanked douc langur conservation, coral restoration, and biodiversity preservation. The hotel’s Sustainability Fund was injected to conduct biodiversity surveys identifying 300 species of flora and fauna. Among these, seven animal and 10 plant species are listed as rare and precious in the Vietnam Red Book 2007 and the IUCN Red List.

Positive Community Impact: Song Saa Private Island, Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia
This resort has a strong focus on the economic stability of the local community. As well as prioritizing employment of local people, they enable the community to increase the productivity and health of their fisheries through more sustainable fishing practices and habitat preservation techniques. The hotel also helps protect 10,000 ha of mangroves and seagrass in the Koh Rong Marine National Park, which they helped to set up, supporting blue carbon sequestration. Alongside this, they have provided education to 1,800 people and supplies to local schools, delivered vitamins to local schools and healthcare to 4,400 locals. Aware that access to clean water is a local issue, Song Saa Private Island have distributed 200 water filters to the community and installed rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling on site. They have also worked to improve sanitation through recycling and composting program with the local community.

Sustainable Design: Citadines North Walker Sydney, North Sydney, Australia
This 252-key property in the Ascott Ltd. portfolio was designed with sustainability at its core, targeting a 5-Star Nabers Energy Rating alongside 5-Star Green Star Design. Located in a dense urban area, on a small site, the use of composite steel and post-tensioned transfer structures resolved the constraint of the site and addressed durability and resilience. The project incorporates various energy efficiency strategies, compared to reference buildings this hotel reduces operation greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 40% and peak electricity demand by 30%. The façade design manages natural light reducing glare and the need of artificial light efficiently. Water conservation, rainwater harvesting allow for a reduction of 24% in potable water consumption.