Here's Far East Hospitality's battle plan against looming hotel war in Orchard Road

Refresh, upgrade, then attack.

The competion in Singapore's hotel space is just about to get more intense as new hotels come on stream in the next few months.

According to DBS, Far East Hospitality expects near-term competition to remain stiff, especially in Orchard, with the opening of Traders Hotel in 2H14.

DBS noted that the strategy to remain competitive is to continuingly refresh and upgrade its hotels selectively. This would enable the refurbished hotels to push for a higher contribution from corporate travellers, which are expected to see higher volumes in 2014 on the back of a robust MICE schedule. Planned capex works in 2014 include Village Hotel Albert Court (135 rooms, completion in 3Q14) and Regency House (41 rooms, completion in 2Q14) and Village Hotel Changi (303 rooms, completion in 4Q14). The estimated capex is in the range of S$10-12m.