Sir Rocco Forte, chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, attended a signing ceremony in Shanghai on June 3, where he announced that a Rocco Forte hotel is set to open in the city in 2018, marking the group’s first move into the Asia Pacific market.
Rocco Forte Hotels will partner with Longhua International to be part of the Longhua International Aviation Service Centre, a new urban complex in Shanghai’s Xuhui Riverside area known as West Bund. Rocco Forte Hotels will be the exclusive luxury international hotel provider to the project. The new modern area will span 7.2 hectares, with an overall floor space of 510,000 square meters, dedicated to business and government office spaces, retail and fashion outlets, cultural amenities such as theaters, and other landscaped recreational spaces.
The hotel, which is yet to be named, will take over the top 15 floors of the tallest building of the development and will include around 280 rooms and suites, all with beautiful views of the city. There will be three different restaurants, each with its own identity and speciality, led by Lydia Forte, Sir Rocco’s daughter and director of food and beverage for the hotel group. The hotel will also have a Rocco Forte spa and health offering, complete with a swimming pool. A grand ballroom will host events, launches and conferences. These will all be framed by large public spaces, with design overseen by Olga Polizzi, director of design for Rocco Forte Hotels.
The news follows the recent announcement of Rocco Forte Hotels’ expansion, which intends to double the number of hotels in the group over the next five years. The existing ten hotels in the collection are largely European based, an area where the group will continue to concentrate, as well as branching further afield to the Middle East.
The Assila Hotel and Residence will open in the heart of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, later in 2015. The hotel will offer 146 rooms, 62 suites and 94 serviced apartments, as well as four restaurant concepts, spa and 25-meter rooftop pool.