SINGAPORE – Carolyn Choo is a maverick. At a time when hotel prices are skyrocketing all over Singapore, the scion of the Republic’s most recognisable budget chain, Hotel 81, is tamping down rates at her hotels to ensure they remain affordable.

In 2018, the 46-year-old incorporated Worldwide Hotels (WWHG), Singapore’s largest home-grown tourist-class hotel group, to consolidate her family’s properties.

Within five years, two of which were Covid-19-stricken ones, WWHG has grown to become synonymous with quality no-frills budget and mid-tier hotels – a crucial offering in an expensive city like Singapore.

The group enjoys an occupancy rate of about 80 per cent for its rooms across the country, in diverse areas ranging from hipster Tiong Bahru to the Chinatown cultural enclave.

As chief executive and managing director of WWHG, Ms Choo made many bold moves in 2023, including securing the acquisition of Parkroyal on Kitchener Road from Pan Pacific Hotels Group for a whopping $525 million – a transaction reported as the largest single-asset hotel deal in Singapore.

She also bought two properties – Novotel Melbourne Central and Ibis Melbourne Central – in Australia for A$170 million (S$152.3 million), marking the group’s 10th and 11th overseas hotels.

WWHG recently opened the 530-room Hotel Mi Rochor on Dec 1. Decked out in bright pops of colour and a swimming pool, it is the second Hotel Mi property targeted at Gen Z and millennial travellers “craving creative, fun and lively experiences”.

The first Hotel Mi is located in Bencoolen Street. The new hotel at 89 Short Street has been attracting a steady crop of travellers from around the region.

This expansion takes WWHG’s portfolio to 40 local properties and 11 overseas ones, in Australia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

In an interview with The Straits Times, Ms Choo says her journey has had its share of hard knocks. The most difficult period was when she joined the family business in 2002 as a finance manager.

“I put intense pressure on myself to demonstrate my capabilities. Unlike today, there was a lack of talent and professional management, which necessitated my involvement in the business and taking up multiple roles. It was a challenge to navigate the complexities of the business demands while maintaining my family’s dynamics,” says the second child of renowned hotelier Choo Chong Ngen, 70.

She took over as CEO in 2017.

Of her three siblings, two of them – Ben Choo and Sean Choo – also work in the business, as director of operations support and director of sales – strategy and planning respectively.

Like many other hospitality companies, WWHG faced significant challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic because of closed borders.

“The primary challenge we faced was to not let any team member go. Additionally, disruptions in the supply chain significantly delayed the construction of our two major projects, leading to substantial cash-flow challenges,” Ms Choo recounts.

But she pressed on and used the downtime to upskill the team, digitalise processes and enhance operational efficiencies, she says.

Her father, she adds, has remained her pillar of support and inspiration since day one.

“I remember when he started his first hotel’s construction, he would climb up the stairs and inspect every level daily. He attended all meetings with the architect and consultants, and was very involved in the details of the hotel design, space planning and construction. These conversations instilled in me a deep appreciation for the importance of passion, hard work and humility,” she says.

Constantly referencing her father as her life mentor, she adds that he has given her invaluable advice: If the deal is too good to be true, it probably is.

She adds: “This has taught me to be vigilant and focus on long-term viability instead of short-term benefits. This has also guided many of our important decisions and helped us avoid detrimental partnerships and lengthy legal issues.”

Ms Choo knows she has big shoes to fill, but is determined to step out of her father’s shadow.

The launch of the 989-room Icon Hotel at 8 Club Street in early 2024 will boost WWHG’s local portfolio to 41 properties. Designed for the informed, cosmopolitan traveller, this hotel, situated between Chinatown and the Central Business District, is dedicated to affordable luxury. Ms Choo declines to reveal room prices for now.

At last check, a standard double room at Hotel Mi during a weekend in December – a peak travel period – costs slightly above $150 a night. Meanwhile, a similar room at the former Parkroyal – which has been rebranded to Novotel Singapore on Kitchener – costs about $250 a night.

Both hotels’ rates remained below the average room rate of $325 during the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix season in September.

Ms Choo says the across-the-board surge in hotel prices in Singapore presents challenges and opportunities for budget and mid-tier accommodations.

“The main challenge is the attractiveness of Singapore as a destination in terms of affordability for middle-income travellers, especially those from South-east Asia. Despite this, we have attained a higher average daily rate than pre-Covid-19, bolstered by overall higher hotel prices in the mid-upper and luxury hotel sectors here,” she adds.

But along with higher prices come higher expectations.

“I constantly remind my team we need to ensure we meet these heightened expectations with better service,” she says.

Armed with this wisdom, the mother of three is poised for world domination.

She says: “As we chart our course towards becoming the world’s leading Singapore brand hotel group, our anchor remains the promise encapsulated in our brand promise, ‘Hospitality that matters. Stay better’.

“This is not just a commitment to exceptional service, it’s also our dedication to creating meaningful value and forging lasting relationships with every guest and partner.”

Being older and wiser has also taught her to be kinder to herself and others.

She says: “I’ve learnt to set more realistic expectations for myself and the people around me. My motto now is ‘to embrace life with gratitude’, and I am grateful for all my life experiences and my loved ones.”