By Crystal Chan

SELF-heating toilet seats, Chopard toiletries and LCD television sets.

These are some of the nice touches that guests can find in the executive rooms of Rendezvous Hotel.

The four-star hotel at Bras Basah Road spent $7million to renovate its club lounge, restaurant Straits Cafe and 100 business-class rooms.

Despite the economic slowdown, the emergence of integrated resorts, falling tourism numbers and travellers spending less, some hotels here are still splurging on renovations.

And they are not increasing their room rates despite the improvements.

Rendezvous Hotel charges $480++ per night for the executive rooms. Its general manager, Mr Kellvin Ong, told The New Paper on Sunday: 'Many travellers are tightening their belts. By renovating our rooms, guests can still enjoy five-star luxury but at a lower price.'

Mr Ong said that it hopes to recoup the cost of renovation by getting more guests to stay in the refurbished rooms instead of its cheaper ones.

One satisfied guest is Mr Arturo Hernandes Ortiz, 46, an American restaurateur who will be staying in Rendezvous Hotel till the end of this month.

He said that he always stays in either four- or five-star hotels as comfort is important to him.

Mr Ortiz added: 'It's my first trip to Singapore and I chose to stay in Rendezvous because it has nice rooms and its facilities, such as the gym, are what I need.

'We'll be coming back to Singapore in January for another holiday and, without a doubt, we'll be staying in the same hotel.'

To cut costs, Rendezvous Hotel will deliver complimentary fruits only when guests make such requests.

Mr Arturo Hernandes Ortiz, 46, an American restaurateur, is impressed with the renovated Rendezvous Hotel.

Mr Ong said the hotel tries to give guests what they want. He said: 'Lately, we received requests for free Internet access and telephone calls, so we added these into the room packages.'

On Thursday, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said visitor numbers have been dipping for four straight months.

There were just 739,000 visitors in September - down 4.1 per cent from the same period last year - making it the worst month for arrivals this year.

Rendezvous Hotel is not the only one spending big bucks during these lean times. Others like Peninsula-Excelsior and Royal Plaza On Scotts are also spending millions to spruce up their premises.

The hotels said that they were doing this to cope with the imminent competition from the Marina Bay Sands IR, which will open in late 2009.

Peninsula-Excelsior, a four-star hotel, is spending $10m on renovating its 590 rooms.

Like Rendezvous Hotel, it will not increase its prices of $180++ to $270++ per night.

Mr Daniel Chia, Peninsula-Excelsior's general manager, said: 'We renovated because we want to be on a better footing when the IR opens, because we cater to Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions).'

Optimism

Mr Chia added that his hotel has also built a new two-storey lounge that has a good view of Marina Bay.

Carlton Hotel is taking things one step further. It is building another wing that will add 285 rooms to its current 630 rooms.

The hotel is optimistic that visitor numbers will hit the 15 million mark by 2015, as projected by STB.

Royal Plaza On Scotts, a five-star hotel, has also completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of its 511 rooms.

Its spokesman said: 'The buzzwords now are no-frills and value-adds. We're also working very closely with our travel bookers to offer packages which fall into their budget.

'With these, we have maintained an average occupancy of 85 per cent throughout the year.'

Also set to undergo a multi-million-dollar face-lift is Concorde Hotel (formerly Le Meridien Singapore), which plans to be rebranded as a four-star business hotel.

Mr Robert Khoo, head of the National Association of Travel Agents, said the renovated hotels would be on a better footing to compete.

He said: 'During a recession, businesses will want to cut costs so they may accommodate travelling staff in four-star hotels instead of five-star ones. If a four-star hotel looks and feels five-star, it's great value for money.'

Five-star hotel chains are also becoming more generous with their loyalty schemes, as the recession means travellers will be more budget-conscious.

Marriott has a new scheme, effective from 15 Jan next year, where its members can redeem rewards, without any blackout periods.

InterContinental Hotels, Hilton International and Starwood, which runs Sheraton Towers and St Regis hotels, are also not imposing any blackout periods on their rewards schemes.

Mr Andy Oh, who teaches tourism and resort management in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said loyalty schemes would be critical to big hotel chains during a recession.

He said: 'Such schemes will give existing customers incentives to stay in the hotels as they can enjoy cheaper stays.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 2, 2008.