Kandooma - Maldives Launches Website

HPL Hotels & Resorts has announced that its newest property in the Maldives, Kandooma, has officially launched its new website on www.kandooma-maldives.com

In keeping in tune with the resort’s signature concept of using cool, clean lines with white washed timber amidst the great blue outdoors, the website is designed to be similarly clean-cut in fresh shades of blue and white. The functionality of the website is also such that it allows for ease of use and direct access to all web pages and a streamlined booking process.

Divided into ten easy-to-navigate sections, the intention is for the website to make the visitors’ online experience as informative and as effortless as possible. In addition, users will find a hassle-free booking engine conveniently located on every web page, which allows for a quick check on room rates and availability. Instant confirmation is also given for all online reservations.

Construction work on the resort is progressing according to schedule. The resort, owned and managed by HPL Hotels & Resorts, is the latest addition to the HPL group which has interests in 22 properties in eight countries. Due to open its doors in June 2008, the resort has 160 villas in four main categories of beach and garden villas, duplex villas, family villas and water villas.

Blessed with white sands, azure skies, lush tropical greenery and clear turquoise waters, Kandooma has created facilities and services that are intended to satisfy, engage, entertain, inform, educate and luxuriate … and www.kandooma-maldives.com is only a sneak preview into this new holiday experience!

Source: E Travel Black Board

HPL signs Second Resort in The Maldives

HPL Hotels & Resorts, a hospitality management company owned by Singapore public-listed company Hotel Properties Limited, has signed a contract to manage its second resort in the sunny paradise of The Maldives.

Currently under construction in the Maldives, Kandooma Island, from which the resort takes its name, is located on the South Male Atoll. It can be reached by a 30-minute speedboat trip. The resort will feature 160 villas ranging from standard to duplex and over-water units. The island’s name is derived from the Kandoo trees which flourish in healthy numbers.

Kandooma will feature several spectacular high-domed buildings that contain the reception and restaurant complexes. The domes, nestled in a lush tropical landscape, are inspired by sea barnacles and showcase high ceilings, natural light, fresh air and a sense of being outside even when indoors. Accommodations for guests are housed in white-washed, wood structures that are unique in design and uncluttered. Most villas have views of the turquoise blue waters for which the Maldives are most famous.

Conceptualized to be a place where guests come to unwind and relax, Kandooma greets guests with an informal and friendly welcome, making them want to kick off their shoes and enjoy the sensation of fine sand between their toes as soon as they come ashore. Fringed by sparkling white beaches and turquoise lagoons of clear, warm waters and coral reefs that teem with marine flora and fauna, the island is especially popular amongst scuba divers for its close proximity to some of the best dives on walls, channels, caves and sea mounts in The Maldives, making it a marine haven for both diving and snorkeling. Kandooma also offers keen surfers consistent and quality reef breaks on the eastern side of the island, where it faces the open sea

Source: Asia Travel Tips

HPL reports three-fold increase in Q1 earnings to S$11.7m

SINGAPORE : Hotel Properties (HPL) has reported a three-fold increase in first quarter earnings.

Net income came in at S$11.7 million, up from S$4.4 million in the same period a year ago.

HPL attributed the higher profit to contributions from the two Four Seasons Resorts in Maldives which started operations in the last quarter of last year.

Other hotels in the group, particularly those in Singapore and Bali, also recorded higher room rates or occupancies.

But HPL also saw an increase in interest expense as a result of higher borrowings to finance various recent investments.

These included the recent acquisitions of Beverly Mai and Horizon Towers and the purchase of a 41 percent interest in Hermill Investments, which owns Forum The Shopping Mall.

HPL expects the outlook for the second quarter to be promising. - CNA /ls

Source: Channel News Asia