Former Hotel Miramar Singapore bought for $160m, will be refurbished and renamed

SINGAPORE - Singapore-listed Wee Hur has taken a stake in a new fund managed by Singapore-based asset management firm Aravest that has bought the former Hotel Miramar Singapore in Havelock Road for $160 million.

The price works out to about $465,100 per room.

The transaction marks Wee Hur’s maiden hotel investment. Its fully owned subsidiary, Wee Hur Property, has a “significant minority stake in the fund and is a development partner of the asset”, according to a joint statement by Aravest and Wee Hur.

The 344-room hotel,

which ceased operations at the end of October,

will undergo a 12-month refurbishment before opening as DoubleTree by Hilton Singapore Robertson Quay in the fourth quarter of 2026.

DoubleTree by Hilton is an upscale full-service brand and the property in Havelock Road will take the number of hotels managed by Hilton in Singapore to six.

“Ideally, we hope to open in advance of the F1 race next year,” said Aravest chief executive officer Moses Song.

Aravest has a stake in the fund and more investors are expected to participate in due course.

The acquisition – Aravest’s first foray into the Singapore hospitality market – is part of the group’s plans to build an Asia-Pacific hospitality portfolio, Mr Song said in an interview with The Business Times.

Aravest – owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co (SMFL) – has a management portfolio in Asia-Pacific with assets under management worth US$9.3 billion (S$12.1 billion), with key investments in office, hospitality and living, logistics, retail and sustainable infrastructure.

Wee Hur Property CEO Goh Chengyu said the group’s “track record in development and construction, combined with Hilton’s operational expertise and Aravest’s investment vision, ensures that DoubleTree by Hilton Singapore Robertson Quay will set a new benchmark for hospitality in the area”.

For Hilton, the revamped hotel will be the new flagship for a refreshed Asia-Pacific design for the chain’s DoubleTree brand.

Pickleball courts, new F&B offerings

The renovation will include refreshing the rooms, meeting spaces, lobby, fitness centre and pool deck.

Additional landscaping will be done and new amenities introduced, including pickleball courts that will be open to hotel guests and potentially external users as well.

Aravest declined to provide an estimate of the renovation costs.

The hotel will feature the first full-scale iterations in Asia-Pacific of the DoubleTree by Hilton food and beverage concepts Saus (an all-day dining restaurant serving grilled and steamed local classics) and Brew 33 (serving coffee and craft beer).

The new owners’ intention is for the two existing restaurants in the hotel, Ah Yat Seafood and Ikoi, to remain open while the hotel undergoes refurbishment and to continue operating after the hotel is rebranded. This is subject to further discussions with the restaurants’ operators.

As at Sept 30, there were 711 DoubleTree by Hilton hotels trading globally (including 116 in Asia-Pacific), and 236 in the pipeline globally (including 92 in Asia-Pacific).

No large redevelopment or subdivision of rooms

Aravest and Wee Hur have chosen not to embark on a substantial redevelopment of the Havelock Road property that could potentially increase the gross floor area by almost 50 per cent to 351,850 sq ft.

The owners have also decided against subdividing rooms, despite the average room size of 26 sq m (about 280 sq ft) being considered generous compared with newer hotels.

Mr Clarence Tan, Hilton’s senior vice-president of development for Asia-Pacific, noted that for any hotel investment and conversion opportunity – from one hotel chain’s brand to another’s, or from a different use to a hotel – the purchase price is a key consideration.

“The other is the return, and how quickly you can get the return.”

Mr Tan said the current room sizes in the Havelock Road hotel are a ready-made fit for a DoubleTree hotel.

“An old building with good-sized rooms and views of the Singapore River is a precious opportunity.”

Market watchers told BT that rooms at the former Hotel Miramar Singapore were fetching an average daily rate of about $170 to $180 per room.

A DoubleTree room would probably fetch $240 in the current market on a stabilised basis.

Hilton did not comment on the above figures but Mr Tan is upbeat about prospects for the hotel, citing, among other factors, the Singapore Government adding $5 billion to a fund that supports Changi Airport’s expansion. Tourism receipts in Singapore are projected to reach $47 billion to $50 billion by 2040, from $29.8 billion in 2024.

Art of investing in short land-tenure assets

Asked what drew Aravest to the Havelock Road property, on a site with a remaining land tenure of only 41 years out of the original 99-year lease, Mr Song said: “The income profile that we ultimately underwrote was very compelling. The lease is shorter than you would normally like, but that’s accounted for in the pricing. We’re more than comfortable and quite happy to be in this investment.”

Typically, investors would expect a higher yield when buying assets with shorter land leases to recoup their capital in addition to seeking a return on investment on that capital. “The biggest challenge is making sure that the income profile offsets the challenges of the short lease and the potential depreciation in capital value when you exit,” Mr Song added.

Aravest is a carve-out of the private funds business of ARA Asset Management in South Korea, Singapore, Australia and the United States, which was sold in 2024 by ESR Group to SMFL.

Aravest’s portfolio includes the 434-room Conrad Seoul, acquired in August 2024 from Brookfield Asset Management for around 400 billion won (S$363 million). M&G Real Estate holds a 25.3 per cent stake in the fund that owns the hotel.

Elaborating on the Asia-Pacific hospitality portfolio that Aravest plans to build, Mr Song said the key markets will be Singapore and gateway cities in South Korea, Australia and Japan.

“There’s a long-term secular trend appeal for global hospitality.”

The four countries will also be Aravest’s focus for acquisitions of office, living sector and logistics assets.

Hilton currently manages Conrad Singapore Orchard, Conrad Singapore Marina Bay, Hilton Singapore Orchard and Hilton Garden Inn Singapore Serangoon.

Hilton will also manage, under its NoMad brand, a new 173-room hotel being developed on the former Faber House site at 230 Orchard Road. It is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.

THE BUSINESS TIMES