News & Updates

October 1, 2019 – Compass Hospitality is set to make a debut in London through the signing of Arosfa Hotel, which has been recently acquired by Singapore-based Buxani Group. The Arosfa Hotel will be Compass Hospitality’s 16th hotel in the UK, further establishing the hotel chain’s commitment to consolidate its footprint in Great Britain.

A Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse, the Arosfa Hotel dates back to 1780 and was a former home to the famous Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais. The boutique hotel houses 17 charming bedrooms and enjoys exceptionally central location in the historic Bloomsbury district of Fitzrovia, a short walking distance to major landmarks in the area including The British Museum, Oxford Street, University College London, and Regent’s Park. The hotel also benefits from excellent transport links; London Underground tube network, as well as three of London’s busiest railway stations – London Euston Station, London King’s Cross and London St Pancras International – are all within walking distance from the hotel. The last of the three railway stations also connects London with major cities in Mainland Europe such as Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Arosfa Hotel into our diverse portfolio of projects,” says Kishore Buxani, Founder and CEO of Buxani Group. “This strategic expansion in London marks our third hotel in the UK managed by Compass Hospitality since last year and highlights our robust confidence in the market.”

Harmil Singh, CEO of Compass Hospitality, added “On the back of encouraging performance across our UK portfolio, we are happy to expand and to set foot in the Capital. We continue to be committed to the UK market and we are eyeing further expansion in the coming months.”

About Compass Hospitality

Compass Hospitality is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing hospitality management companies, managing and operating a wide portfolio of 50 hospitality properties across all market segments. Following the rapid growth in Southeast Asia, the group has expanded into the UK market in 2015 and has since built a portfolio of 16 hotels across the UK. UK hotels operated by Compass Hospitality are located in London, Oxford, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Cheltenham, Eastbourne, Inverness, Coventry, Scarborough, Dundee, Dumfries, and Carmarthen.

With 4 distinctive brands, Compass, Citrus, Citin, Ananda, and alongside our Compass Collection which includes individually branded hotels and resorts, Compass manages and operates hotels, resorts, executive serviced apartments and spas located in Thailand, Malaysia, and the UK.

Media Contacts

Nichola Worthington
National Key Account Manager
nichola.w@compasshospitality.com

Panitchaya Dungprom

Cluster Assistant Director of Distribution, UK Cluster
panitchaya.d@compasshospitality.com

Compass Hospitality UK Head Office: The Victoria Hotel, Hollinwood Ave, Chadderton, Oldham, OL9 8DE

Compass Hospitality Thailand Head Office: Suite 10/91, Trendy Office Tower, 5th floor, 10 Sukhumvit Soi 13, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
www.compasshospitality.com

Last week we had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Napatra Vacharavithayakorn, Stanley Chow, and Theerathep Youngvanich from Harrow International School Bangkok, as they venture and explore their interest in the hospitality industry. Under the guidance of our Digital Marketing and our Investment teams, the three successfully completed a SWOT analysis of four properties: Compass Skyview, The Continent, Galleria 10 and Galleria 12.

“We at Compass Hospitality appreciate young talents and the grit to learn,” commented Irvan Sutiono, Manager, Investments and Compliance. “SWOT analysis is no easy task for a high school student, and the three have impressed us, each taking a different approach to tackle the project. Rabin and I are honored to have been able to guide them through the process, and we hope to welcome them again in the future.”

The students shared their thoughts about their internship –

Thep Youngvanich – Year 11 Student at Harrow International School Bangkok

First of all, I would like to thank Compass Hospitality for providing an opportunity for me to experience business in the hospitality industry. Even though I only had one week to experience the business world and to work with Compass Hospitality, I have received many lessons and experiences that cannot ever be acquired through school.

For my one-week project, I had to create a SWOT analysis of two hotels managed by Compass Hospitality. On day one I had no clue what a SWOT analysis was, at first I thought that I had to analyze cops around the area! Once I actually understood what the SWOT analysis was: an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a product. I went straight to the Internet and immediately compared the rates of hotel rooms I am in charge of and its competitors. Little did I know, my method was wrong. After talking to my supervisor who gave me more knowledge about the hospitality industry, I understood that comparing prices isn’t as simple as I thought due to the constant change of supply and demand of rooms. He told me that there are different aspects of a hotel that draws in guests and suggested me to look at qualitative data such as reviews. My supervisor also puts emphasis on collecting only reliable and useful data, continually saying, “Remember to always take in things with a pinch of salt”. Sure, at school the teachers always said this to me, well not the exact saying, but you get the point. It was common sense, but it was easier in theory than in practice. Going through all the data and slowly filtering them was tiring both mentally and physically (especially on the eyes), but it proves to be a very significant skill.

Besides collecting data from the Internet, I also had to talk to managers of hotels and the e-commerce team. Therefore, I had many opportunities to talk to the operational manager, general manager, human resources manager, the financial manager, and the e-commerce team. Every single person was approachable, resourceful, and very helpful. They gave me their opinions on my SWOT analysis and their own viewpoints of the hotels. In addition, they also taught me how to interpret and determine the relationship between statistical data and taught me new vocabularies such as RevPAR (Revenue per available room), YTD (Year to date), and ADR (Average daily room rate). Besides all the raw knowledge I’ve received from this experience, I’ve also received something that is tremendously beneficial to me, which will play a huge part in deciding my career path: the sincere advice from people I’ve met during my one-week experience. I appreciate everyone that told me about their personal experience during the one-week duration, because like they said: ” They have gone through what I am going through, all the puzzlement and cluelessness; and if they could have the opportunity that I have received, they would also appreciate it”.

Overall this one-week work experience at Compass Hospitality was well spent, though challenging at times, it was absolutely exhilarating and fun. I would definitely recommend the experience to people who are interested in the hospitality industry.

Punpun Vacharavithayakorn – Year 11 Student at Harrow International School Bangkok

During the one week of work experience at Compass Hospitality, I worked on the SWOT analysis of The Continent Hotel. The placement that I observed was digital marketing. I experienced what it’s like to work in an office with other people. It was very tiring at times but that was a valuable experience.

The task that was given to me was to do a SWOT analysis of a hotel. It had a lot of flexibility so the outcome of the task was a bit different for the three of us. I focused mainly on the hotel itself. So my SWOT analysis was focused on the continent hotel not the surrounding area. A new skill that I learned was how to make a SWOT analysis and I think this is very helpful and can be used in other fields not just for hospitality. The SWOT analysis helped me understand how to spot the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of a place or an object along with how to use the internet to find useful information about the hotel, such as the price, customer reviews and nearby hotels.

What I focused on was customer reviews because I believe that is important for the image of the hotel and also the flaws that the manager pointed out to me that are visible for the guests. When I went to look at the hotel with the general manager it taught me how a hotel operates with different sectors working together for example food and beverages and housekeeping and showed me how important it is that all these sectors work together to create a pleasurable experience for the guests.

I also made a presentation to present this information on the last day of the work experience. This was nerve-wracking but helpful because it is a good opportunity for me to practice my public speaking and presenting skills.

In conclusion, I had a wonderful time at compass hospitality. Although it was one short week, I learned many new skills and had a great experience that taught me a lot.

Stanley Chow – Year 11 Student at Harrow International School Bangkok

I had my one-week work experience in Compass Hospitality, when I entered the office I barely knew anything. We were very nervous because we’ve never done anything like this before, although it was terrifying at first, I was also very excited because this is very new to me.

During the one week we had there we were given a task, that task was to create a SWOT presentation on the hotel we were tasked to do a SWOT analysis on.

On our first day we first researched on the Hotel we were tasked to create a presentation on. I was assigned to Compass Skyview Hotel, Thep was assigned to 2 hotels, Galleria 10 & 12, Punpun was assigned to The Continent Hotel. We first researched on our hotels given. After doing a fair amount of research, we set off to our hotels by ourselves, and got a tour by the staff in the hotel. It was a cool experience, I never thought I would get a tour of a 5-star hotel, from the tour I asked many questions and found out many things which made it more interesting.

The second and third day were the same just constantly researching and slowly adding things to our presentation. On the fourth day, Thursday, is when the nerves really started to kick in, I was completely terrified of the thought of presenting my presentation in front of people I don’t really know. And also I really don’t like standing in front and talking people I don’t really know.

On Friday, our last day there we were really nervous but also really want to finish the project. But also scared if we got anything wrong about the hotel. When it was my turn to present I started off badly, I stuttered a lot at first until they told me it was okay if I was nervous and to take my time. I took a little break and then continued and finished, I felt like I did badly at first and got better later. Throughout my week at Compass Hospitality I found it really challenging because all the tasks were new but it was also very exciting and fun, I had an amazing time there, I got to learn new things I didn’t know and got new experience.

Also looking for an internship experience? Get in touch!