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2 | www.travelweekly-asia.com Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Located at 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652. All rights reserved. Volume 9 Issue 4 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. Online Subscription: www.travelweekly-asia.com/subscribe For reprints or copyright permission contact Travel Weekly Asia at +65 6801 0450 or email to twasia-salesmtg@travelweekly.com Printed by TIMES PRINTERS PRIVATE LIMITED (L004/08/2016) Travel Weekly Asia is BPA audited, with 11,100 print circulation and 23,144 eNewsletter circulation as of Dec 31, 2017. Around the world, BPA is the preferred third-party auditor for advertiser-supported business publications (including print and digital editions). BPA verifies paid, controlled, or any combination of paid and controlled circulation, and reports the data in a single Brand Report. Founded in 1931 BPA Worldwide is an independent, not-for-profit, self-regulating organization governed by a tripartite Board. 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Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, INFORMATION PRODUCTS GROUP Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis TALKING POINT I must have passed the Hong Kong Government building countless times when I was living in the city. But the Murray Building was a structure you hardly noticed in a city of super structures – it was nondescript, very closed- looking, and used to house various government departments so I suppose its function was not to stand out, but to blend. Until now. Earlier this year, The Murray soft- opened, part of the Niccolo brand of hotels by Wharf Hotels, and the new 336-room hotel has certainly attracted a lot of attention. One, many people wanted the building and site – there were 18 bids in all – but Wharf Holdings beat them off by paying HK$4.4 billion for the building and site and then spent HK$3.4 billion on converting it, so per key, it is probably one of the most expensive hotel developments in the world. Said managing director Duncan Palmer, "Ultimately they paid the most. Wharf wanted the building and to leave a legacy to Hong Kong. From the start, Peter Wu, the chairman, took that responsible stance." Two, it's preserved a sense of history and place at a time when Hong Kong probably needs reminders of its proud history when it was once the only gateway between the West and an emerging China. The Murray Building, built in 1969 and the tallest building at the time, sits between Hong Kong Park and Botanical Park and staying there, you are reminded by how, despite its super steel structures, Hong Kong is a green city and along with its 7.3 million population, there's lots of birdlife still around. To ensure the building stayed true to its roots, Palmer tracked down the original architect, Ron The Murray has me singing like a lark Phillips, who played a key role in the conversion to a hotel. "The building was very closed in, very secure and it was nicknamed the Murray car park because all the open areas were occupied by cars. The windows were quite small, the sills quite high – so we brought the sills down but kept the angle of the windows so that the sun never shines directly into the bedroom. This building won the award for energy efficiency in 1994," Palmer explained. Wharf has also kept the privacy Siew Hoon is a traveller who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She's combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including WIT. She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business. of the building. Even though buildings surround it, there are no shops in the hotel so you don't get a lot of foot traffic as you would most other hotels in Hong Kong. Palmer confesses he's addicted to taking on iconic hotels and repositioning them. He worked on the Oriental Bangkok in the 80s, Savoy in the mid-90s, the Connaught in the late 90s as well as the Sukhothai in Bangkok. "It's like having a sort of blank canvas each time – you need a high degree of honesty and let people speak their minds. Our mission is to give Hong Kong a unique hotel – to translate the architectural straight lines into the interior of the hotel." As I left the hotel, I found myself wondering, is this what Luxury 2.0 feels like? In my world of tech overload, I felt like it had lessened my psychic load. Sleek, clean lines deck a suite in The Murray.

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