Soon to Rise: Tune Hotel Alor Setar in Malaysia

Kedah’s state capital of Alor Setar will see its old city quarter undergo a facelift with the arrival of a new hotel by the international value hotel group Tune Hotels.

Bangunan HBR in Jalan Langgar here will be refurbished to house the 88-room Tune Hotel Alor Setar that is scheduled for opening by the end of November this year. A signing ceremony was held today between HBR Group and Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Rakyat) for a RM12 million financing facility for the project. Group CEO Khairil Akmal Hanafi signed for HBR Group while Bank Rakyat was represented by Senior Vice President for Corporate Banking Abdul Razak Abu Bakar. The ceremony was witnessed by State Executive Councillor for Tourism Dato’ Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid. HBR Group is a second generation family business founded by the late Dato’ Haji Hanafi Ramli in 1977 and now moving aggressively towards hospitality and property development business as part of the group’s transformation programme initiated by Khairil Akmal back in 2012. Khairil said: “We are very pleased to be working with Tune Hotels in bringing its internationally renowned brand and expertise into Alor Setar. This is a highly anticipated project which I am sure everyone in Alor Setar and Kedah in general will be proud of. This hotel will certainly provide a boost to tourism in the state.” Meanwhile, Group CEO of Tune Hotels Mark Lankester said: “Tune Hotel Alor Setar is a unique project for the state, HBR Group and ourselves. The art deco design of the building isn’t often found in Malaysia and we intend to preserve much of it, much in the same way many of the hotels in Miami, Florida have been realised. Naturally we will be adding all the modern conveniences and flair that you will have seen with the recent openings in Malaysia of the Tune Hotels in klia2, Taiping and imminently, Cyberjaya.”

HBR Group CEO Khairil Akmal Hanafi (left) exchanging documents with Bank Rakyat Senior Vice President for Corporate Banking Abdul Razak Abu Bakar (left). The signing ceremony was witnessed by State Executive Councillor for Tourism Dato’ Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid (centre).[/caption] “For our chain, we have been looking to connect Northern-most Peninsular Malaysia to Southern Thailand, where we have the Tune Hotel in Hat Yai and Phuket. This opportunity does precisely that and having hotels in both cities perfectly compliments the needs of our guests,” added Mark. Tune Hotel Alor Setar will be the group’s second property in Kedah, after Tune Hotel Kulim in the southern part of the state. Other Tune Hotels located in the northern region include in George Town, Penang and Taiping, Perak. Most of the rooms at Tune Hotel Alor Setar will feature an individual private garden set in a balcony overseeing the city, the first of its kind in Alor Setar.

HBR Group CEO Khairil Akmal Hanafi (left) sharing further information on Tune Hotel Alor Setar to the State Executive Councillor for Tourism Dato’ Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid (right) while Tune Hotels Regional Manager North Dennis Cheng (centre) looks on.[/caption] The new Tune Hotel will be in close proximity to all the major Kedah state government offices, the new Alor Setar railway station and Pekan Rabu, the city’s popular regional product community market. Historic and iconic buildings and monuments like Masjid Zahir, Balai Seni, the Royal Museum and the 165-metre Alor Setar Tower are within a short distance from the hotel. Kedah, located in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia bordering Thailand, is best known as the country’s rice bowl due to its vast and developed paddy plantations. Tourism has become an increasingly significant contributor to the state’s economy, which together with Penang, Perlis and northern Perak form the Northern Corridor Economic Region.

HBR Group CEO Khairil Akmal Hanafi (left) presenting a memento to State Executive Councillor for Tourism Dato’ Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid.[/caption] Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier the AirAsia Group. There are currently 45 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan. For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels. For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.

[Tune Hotels Press Release]

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Tune Hotels Winners and International Bloggers Take Over and Party at KLIA2 New Hotel

Over 200 winners descended upon the brand new Tune Hotel klia2 and enjoyed a fun-filled evening as the hotel organised a ‘Pyjama Party’ to celebrate its recent opening last weekend.

Ten individual winners of the Tune Hotels’ #RoomerHasIt Facebook campaign were able to invite family and friends to enjoy a further 10 complimentary double rooms for a sleepover at Tune Hotelklia2 and join in for the celebration in their sleeping garb.

Award-winning recording artiste and singer-songwriter Melissa Indot, YouTube sensation Elizabeth Tan and Tune Hotels’ very own Eugene See entertained with performances of their own hit songs and popular interpretations.

International journalists and bloggers from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia and Taiwan were also flown in courtesy of AirAsia and AirAsia X. The event was also made possible by partner-sponsors including Tune Talk Mobile Prepaid, the AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, Doof The World Sdn Bhd and TripAdvisor, whose mascot Ollie the Owl made a special appearance.

Group CEO of Tune Hotels Mark Lankester said: “We are thrilled with the opening of Tune Hotel klia2 which has already received an overwhelming response and very strong forward bookings from travellers around the region. Through the #RoomerHasIt social media campaign we wanted to introduce and create further awareness of our latest design and fit-out to previous guests as well as the fantastic facilities at klia2, the world’s largest purpose-built airport for low cost carriers. There’s no better way to do that than have them immersed in the hotel itself.”

He said with Tune Hotel klia2, guests now have a superior accommodation option that is not only great value for money but also features improvements to its international-standard offerings. With 400 rooms, the hotel is directly connected to the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) Terminal via a covered walkway and link bridge, allowing easy and more convenient access as well as the Gateway@klia2 shopping mall. For ultimate convenience, the hotel features AirAsia self check-in kiosks in the lobby.

“Much has been said about the huge size of the new klia2 Terminal and it is impressively large. By hosting these winners and their guests at the Tune Hotel klia2, we want to illustrate just how convenient it is to have a great sleep or enjoy the services within the hotel while waiting for their next flight, and the convenience of strolling over to the terminal without rushing and with time on your side. Business and leisure guests as well as airline passengers on connecting flight extended waits will enjoy a totally improved experience and most importantly a very comfortable and refreshing stay, with more amenities,” said Lankester.

On top of that, he said, guests at Tune Hotel klia2 enjoy great connectivity to KL city and its surrounding suburbs as the klia2 Terminal boasts not only bus and taxi services but also the Express Rail Link (ERL) train service that connects to and from Kuala Lumpur Sentral. For guests arriving at or departing from the KLIA Main Terminal, they can make use of the scheduled shuttle service via the ERL that costs just RM2 one way and stroll over to the hotel via its covered link bridge.

“As you can see, from klia2 guests and travellers can easily connect and enjoy our hotel service network depending on their preferences and travel purpose. In the heart of KL city they will find the hugely popular Tune Hotel Downtown Kuala Lumpur that is right smack in the centre and in the surroundings we have the Tune Hotel Kota Damansara as well as the soon-to-open Tune Hotel DPulze Cyberjaya, not to mention excellent flight connectivity, direct and indirect, to key cities and destinations in Malaysia and the whole region including Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Japan and even as far as England and Scotland, all destinations where the Tune Hotels network is present,” he added.

Tune Hotels has innovatively transformed the guestroom experience into a modern-style accommodation featuring the all-new room design with a sleek writing table, luggage platform and a 32-inch flat screen LED TV, bringing about an improved, sophisticated but cool ambience throughout the Tune Hotel klia2.

To add to the guest experience and comfort, the hotel’s spacious lobby features a cool casual seating lounge with free wifi and an expansive open-air courtyard lounge, overlooked by a 24-hour restaurant and beverage centre. For guests with further transportation needs, the hotel includes a transport counter for overland transport needs and for flights, two AirAsia self check-in kiosks and klia2’s flight information displays are provided within the lobby for added convenience to hotelguests.

The hotel also features 167 parking bays which are conveniently located just a few steps away from the airport terminal.

With a projected annual capacity of 45 million passengers, the klia2 is the world's largest purpose-built terminal dedicated for low cost carriers (LCCs). The new airport commenced commercial operations on 2 May 2014.

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Executive Chairman respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

There are currently 45 Tune Hotels available for booking across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, England, Scotland, Australia, India and Japan.

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotels and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.

[Tune Hotels Press Release]

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