THE ASCOTT LIMITED UNVEILS CITADINES BRAND REFRESH TO PREPARE FOR NEXT PHASE OF ACCELERATED GROWTH FOR ITS APARTHOTEL BRAND

Singapore, 22 September 2022 - CapitaLand Investment Limited’s (CLI) wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), unveils the refresh of its fastest growing brand, Citadines, with 80 properties under development across 56 cities. Ascott acquired the Citadines chain in Europe in 2004. It has since quadrupled its portfolio with 104 properties in operation, including its latest flagship property, Citadines Raffles Place Singapore, in the heart of the city’s financial district.

Every city is unique. Citadines, which means ‘city dwellers’ in French, strikes a chord with travellers who seek quality city living. With the tagline ‘For the Love of Cities’, Citadines offers travellers the comfort of a serviced residence and the flexibility of a hotel. The refreshed brand is anchored upon the commitment to provide guests with the best of city living while inspiring them to live, work and play in infinite ways. With a sharpened brand purpose, guests can still look forward to the reliability that comes with the familiarity of Citadines hospitality, while at the same time collect enjoyable memories of their stays as they immerse themselves in the different personalities of each and every city where Citadines is present in. The refreshed Citadines brand seeks to consistently curate unique experiences and service offerings that best meet the needs of its guests.

Ms Tan Bee Leng, Ascott’s Managing Director for Brand & Marketing, said: “Citadines is an important brand in Ascott’s portfolio and we look to aggressively expand its footprint in key cities around the world. We have always believed in the market potential of aparthotel living. Supported by its design versatility, favourable guest demographics and resilient market fundamentals, the growth of the brand has been exponential. Over the past few years, the serviced apartment business has transformed. We have likewise pivoted our offerings towards a hybrid model that would not only allow us to offer the option of both hotel rooms and serviced residences, but also a robust programme that better caters to the lifestyle needs of our guests.

With the buoyant growth in both corporate and leisure travel across key markets, we are excited to bolster our expansion plans for Citadines. Especially as travel resumes, it is timely for us to embark on a brand refresh for this fastest growing brand. With the trajectory we’re seeing, we are confident to continue growing Citadines, which has one of the most extensive global footprints amongst aparthotel brands, to deliver value for both our guests and owners.”

Presenting Citadines’ brand signatures

As part of the refreshed brand and its ambition to promote a well-balanced lifestyle, ‘activ∞’, will be a key brand signature across all Citadines properties. A curation of amenities and programmes to jumpstart city living, activ∞ will ensure guests can live, work and play seamlessly within the property and around the city. This includes resident events that are specially designed to activate the infinite possibilities of city living, fitness amenities and programmes that encourage an active lifestyle.

Another signature programme is ‘For the Love of Coffee’, a collaboration with local communities to deliver unique coffee-related Citadines experiences to guests, wherever they are in the world. Through the universal language of coffee, Citadines aims to bring guests together, enabling a truly shared, immersive experience in every city.

For the Love of Coffee will be a key feature in Citadines properties across the world. For example, Citadines Grand Central Sri Racha in Thailand launched an extensive line-up of activities during International Coffee Week last year, in partnership with Italian coffee company, illy, through a series of workshops, staff engagement programmes and complimentary coffee for guests. Citadines properties around the world will also be launching a series of coffee activation activities over the month of October this year, in support of #CitadinesLovesCoffee.

Other brand signature initiatives include the café check-in experience at Citadines Raffles Place Singapore, where guests will be greeted by an integrated reception incorporating the relaxing vibes of a café as they step into the lobby. At Citadines Bay City Manila in the Philippines, the social lounge has been revamped into a coffee bar, where guests can interact and chat over a cup of coffee.

Convertible features are also another brand signature that allows for the transformation of rooms and property spaces to suit the daily work and lifestyle needs of guests. At Citadines Raffles Place Singapore, guests seeking to prepare their meals or host a private meeting in a more social environment may take advantage of the residents’ kitchen, a private dining space which doubles up for both meetings and intimate dining events. A shared workspace at the lobby is fitted with varying seating arrangements including communal tables as well as barstools at high tables to ensure that different working styles are met.

Citadines associates, known as ‘Citazens’, will undergo barista training and double-up as baristas, in addition to providing guests with the best hacks to navigate city living. This programme has since been successfully rolled-out at Citadines Sudirman Jakarta, and will be further expanded to other Citadines properties.

With the unveiling of the refreshed Citadines brand, guests can expect to experience the full suite of key brand signatures as properties progressively roll out all initiatives across regions including the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East by 2025.

A brand film titled ‘For The Love of Cities’, will roll out on various digital and social channels as part of the Citadines brand refresh. The film illustrates how each city offers its own unique sights, sounds and experiences. It highlights Citadines’ commitment to deliver on the best of city living, with every service offering catered to satisfy its guests in infinite ways. A regional TikTok campaign will kick off on 27 September 2022 across eight markets: Australia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

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Appendix A – Citadines Brand Visual Identity

As part of the brand refresh, Citadines has introduced its new 'Urban Sunrise’ colour palette. Inspiring a sense of wonder and eagerness to explore, the new colour palette resembles the morning scenes of the city rising to a new day, city dwellers waking up to a fresh cup of coffee; and the reflections of skyscrapers casting the sun’s hues off steel and mirrors.

Citadines’ primary colour – Raw Umber, is a derivation of umber, one of the earth’s natural pigments and the first colours painted by humans. A natural brown shade that builds warmth, the colour is rich in history yet exudes a sense of modern chic, synonymous with modern cities and their constant change.

The font type Calibri reflects Citadines’ flexibility and commitment towards bringing infinite possibilities to guests. Easily accessible and used for both formal and casual designs, the font’s subtle curves add a soft and warm touch to its character, which are traits that our Citazens embody.

The secondary graphic of the infinity logo reinforces Citadines’ brand essence of infinite possibilities. Stepping into distinct adventures with Citadines, guests can look forward to enjoying the comfort of serviced residences and the flexibility of hotels, where they can live, work and play at the same time, at the same place, in the heart of the cities they love.

Appendix B – About Citadines Raffles Place Singapore

Citadines Raffles Place Singapore houses 299 units across eight floors which include studio, one- and two-bedroom units as well as loft apartments, ideal for long-stay guests and business travellers. Thoughtfully designed and curated by renowned design firm, Takenouchi Webb, the apartments combine functionality and comfort, featuring contemporary designs with simple clean lines and geometric forms. Versatile, modular furniture pieces seamlessly convert spaces from a work to rest setting, while commissioned artworks by local artists introduce an element of the city in the apartment.

Embodying the live, work, play spirit in a vertically connected environment, guests are greeted by an integrated reception incorporating the relaxing vibes of a café as well as the ‘CapitaScape’ stainless steel artwork that features Singapore’s most historic buildings and landscapes by local artist and illustrator, Tan Zi Xi.

A shared workspace at the lobby is fitted with varying seating arrangements including communal tables as well as barstools at high tables to ensure that different working styles are met. Guests seeking to prepare their meals or host a private meeting in a more social environment may take advantage of the residents’ kitchen, a private dining space which doubles up for both meetings and intimate dining events. Other property facilities include an outdoor barbecue garden, an outdoor fitness park with swimming pool, an indoor gym as well as an integrated 400-metre running track.

The property is also the first among Ascott’s properties in Singapore to deploy service robot ARIA (Ascott Robotic Intelligent Assistant) to perform a suite of tasks such as concierge services, leading guests to the rooms or facilities, delivering clean laundry and packages as well as refilling room supplies.

Citadines Raffles Place Singapore is one of six Citadines properties in Singapore and follows the successful openings of Citadines Rochor Singapore in 2020 and Citadines Balestier Singapore in 2019. Cementing its position as the largest lodging owner-operator in Singapore, the group will see an additional Citadines property open by the end of this year - Citadines Connect Rochester Singapore.  

About The Ascott Limited

The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. Ascott's portfolio spans over 200 cities across more than 40 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA.

Ascott has about 92,000 operating units and more than 63,000 units under development, making a total of about 155,000 units in over 900 properties.

The company’s serviced apartment, coliving and hotel brands include Ascott, Citadines, lyf, Oakwood, Quest, Somerset, The Crest Collection, The Unlimited Collection, Préférence, Fox, Harris, POP!, Vertu and Yello.

Ascott’s loyalty programme, Ascott Star Rewards, offers exclusive benefits to its members when they book directly with Ascott for their stays at its participating properties.

Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Investment Limited, pioneered Asia Pacific’s first international-class serviced apartment with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts over 30 years of industry track record and award-winning brands that enjoy recognition worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.discoverasr.com.

About CapitaLand Investment Limited

Headquartered and listed in Singapore, CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) is a leading global real estate investment manager (REIM) with a strong Asia foothold.  As at 30 June 2022, CLI had about S$125 billion of real estate assets under management, and about S$86 billion of real estate funds under management (FUM) held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and more than 20 private vehicles across Asia-Pacific, Europe and USA.  Its diversified real estate asset classes cover retail, office, lodging, business parks, industrial, logistics and data centres.

CLI aims to scale its FUM and fee-related earnings through fund management, lodging management and its full stack of operating capabilities, and maintain effective capital management.  As the investment management arm of CapitaLand Group, CLI has access to the development capabilities of and pipeline investment opportunities from CapitaLand’s development arm. 

As a responsible company, CLI places sustainability at the core of what it does and has committed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.  CLI contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders.

Visit http://www.capitalandinvest.com for more information.

Issued by: The Ascott Limited         Website: www.discoverasr.com                      

168 Robinson Road, #30-01 Capital Tower, Singapore 068912

For more information, please contact:

Sandpiper on behalf of The Ascott Limited:

Ascott@sandpipercomms.com