Niccolo Chengdu
Niccolo, the new luxury hotel brand by Marco Polo Hotels, made its ILTM Asia debut this year, while announcing plans for further expansion throughout China and beyond.
This follows closely from the first anniversary in April of Niccolo Chengdu, the first Niccolo hotel to open and the current flagship for the brand.
Niccolo is named after the 13th-century explorer and trader Niccolo Polo – the father of Marco Polo – whose epic 20-year adventures opened China to the world.
Niccolo Chengdu opened in April 2015 and has quickly been recognised as the city’s leading centre for luxury accommodation, fine dining and events. It is located within the International Finance Square (IFS), a mixed-use retail and commercial centre which has become the epicentre of Chengdu’s events.
The new brand was conceived and designed to cater to the growing maturity and sophistication of the luxury hotel sector in China, and Chengdu was chosen since it has become the most successful economy of any city in mainland China. In the 2015 study by US-based independent think tank Milken Institute, the inaugural Best-Performing Cities China Report divided 266 Chinese cities into two categories: 34 first- and second-tier cities, and 232 third-tier cities. Chengdu surpassed Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, securing a Top 10 spot in seven of the nine components measured to evaluate and rank the cities.
Chongqing obtained the #9 spot on the list, making it and Chengdu the only inland cities to make the top 10 – a Niccolo hotel will open in Chongqing Q1 of 2017, followed by Niccolo Changsha in Q4. Meanwhile, Suzhou took the top spot for third-tier cities – the historical water town will also be the location for a Niccolo hotel, scheduled to open in 2018. Changzhou, located one hour from Shanghai by high-speed train, took the #7 spot on the third-tier city list – a Marco Polo hotel opened there last year. This report reinforces the long-term strategic plans of Marco Polo Hotels and reflects the continuing positive outlook for the hospitality sector in China and the exciting new brand that is Niccolo Hotels.
