AP Hospitality Bulletin Asia Pacific - October 2026

Transactions that matter.

Hotel Peyto Portfolio, Korea

GIC, Singapore based sovereign wealth fund, and Pacific Asset Management, a UK-based investment manager, have acquired the 163-key Hotel Peyto Samseong and the 186-key Hotel Peyto Gangnam for a total of KRW251 billion (US$158.1 million) or KRW600 million (US$453,000) per key. Due to delays in securing mortgage loans, the original transaction was delayed by a month and closed on 21 October 2026. It is reported that the loan secured for the deal is around KRW135 billion with an all-in interest rate of 5.8%.

Furthermore, GIC and Pacific Asset Management revealed plans to rebrand and renovate to increase the value of the property. Suites will be converted into standard rooms to increase the room count from 163 to 168 for Hotel Peyto Samseong and 186 to 204 for Hotel Peyto Gangnam.

Hotel Stripes Singapore Chinatown, Autograph Collection, Singapore

Blackrock, the world’s largest asset management firm, and YTL Hotel, the Hospitality arm of the Malaysia-based YTL Corporation Berhad, have partnered up and acquired the 304-key Capri by Fraser China Square for SG$330million (US$257.8 million) or SG$1.08 million (US$848,000) per key.

This deal marks Blackrock and YTL’s second hospitality acquisition in Singapore. In May 2025, they acquired the 299-key Citadines Raffles Place service apartment and converted it into a hotel, Oakwood Premier Raffles Place Singapore.

Following the same strategy of buying and rebranding, the partners are rebranding the Capri into Hotel Stripes Singapore Chinatown under Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel, Hong Kong

Park City Group, the property development and investment arm of the Malaysian conglomerate Samling Group, has agreed to acquire the 218-key Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel and 1001-key Four Points by Sheraton Tung Chung. The receivers of Shimao Group, a Shanghai-based property development and investment firm, have agreed on the selling price of the property of HK$2.7 billion (US$344.1 million) or an average of HK$2.2 million (US$282,000) per key across the 1,219-key dual-branded property.

Shimao Group had previously tried to sell the property for HK$9 billion during the pandemic, then HK$6 billion in 2023 and further down to HK$4.5 billion in 2024 but still failed to find a buyer. Down to the agreed price of HK$2.7billion this year, the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Shimao will use the capital to partially pay off a loan taken out back in 2020.

Park City Group previously owned and operated two hotels in Sarawak under their own brand. It will be interesting to see what Park City Group will do with the asset. It's location is neither connected to the airport nor the MTR network, requiring the operation of shuttle buses for guests. At the same time, the scale of the asset and location limits its options to drive average rate ahead of its peers even when plugged into the Marriott system. Conversion to a franchise may be an option should the owner seek to scale up its operating platform.

News that matter.

The Rise of Student Housing in Hong Kong

Hong Kong currently has around 82,000 hotel rooms, equivalent to roughly 30 million room nights available in the market. With almost no new builds in the pipeline, the market is projected to have less than 300 keys added annually facing virtually stagnating supply. In addition, hotels are being converted to student housing, which shall bode well for marketwide hotel performance in the medium term.

The city is also facing another shortage in student housing. With the non-local student numbers surging in recent years, there is currently a shortage of an estimated 76,300 beds for the student housing market. To quickly close the supply gap in the market, government has introduced the policy 'Hostels in the City' Scheme in mid-2025, which encourages investors and developers to convert commercial buildings and underutilized hotels into student housing with certain incentives such as retaining the original GFA. As of October 2026, the government has received 52 applications with 45 applications confirmed eligible, four projects completed, and five are undergoing renovations. Reflecting these opportunities, every major, recent hotel deal in Hong Kong has been a conversion to student housing - apart from the Sheraton & Four Points Tung Chung.

In the medium term, student demand is expected to remain strong and growing as the Hong Kong government continues to promote Hong Kong as an education hub. The hotel market will be facing a supply squeeze — as more properties are expected to be converted into student housing, especially in the core areas like Tsim Sha Tsui, along with the slowing hotel supply in the pipeline. Watch out for and demand compression once tourist numbers pick up and more rooms exit the market.

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