Peninsula Hotels: the calm strength of a luxury icon

The history and spirit of Peninsula blend into those of the hotel’s flagship property: the famous Peninsula Hong Kong opened in 1920. Today it is still considered one of the most prestigious in the world. The latter, nicknamed the “Grande dame de l’Orient”, has cultivated a timeless “grand palace” spirit and maintained its competitiveness in the face of the great waves of openings that have stirred up the upper upmarket supply in the old colony over the decades. All that without ever trying to react up front to the increased pressure from the competition, preferring to maintain its prestige without worrying about the changing fashions. “We adopt a longterm strategy,” summarizes Rainy Chan, director of the Peninsula Hong Kong. “We believe that if we continue to innovate, to maintain our level of excellence in terms of equipment and services, without breaking away from our origins and while honoring our past, then we will remain competitive forever”.Peninsula has every intention to remain synonymous with absolute luxury for a long time in a region where its prestige is deeply rooted: how could one dream of a better foundation for heading off to conquer new markets?Leaving its quality to continue to talk without venturing among the market trends: this strategy is specific to the entire brand and has withstood its trials. Unlike two other stars among international upmarket Asian hotels - the Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental - until now Peninsula has shown a certain amount of discretion in terms of development. It is also true that SARS, by hitting its principal business area full force, succeeded in inciting a certain amount of prudence. But everything is back in motion and the chain began planning its expansion to European ground in the near future and it no longer hides its interest in the two...