CapitaLand Investment Limited’s (CLI) wholly-owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) has been awarded the top honour of ‘India’s Leading Serviced Apartments 2023’ and ‘India’s Leading Serviced Apartment Brand 2023’ for its Somerset brand of serviced residence at the recent highly esteemed World Travel Awards 2023, held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
This marks the eighth consecutive year that Ascott has received this accolade at the World Travel Awards, while the Somerset brand has won two consecutive years for both these categories of awards, underscoring the brand’s unwavering commitment to excellence in the hospitality industry.
World Travel Awards is the travel industry's most prestigious awards programme, rewarding leaders in the tourism, airline, hotel, and hospitality sectors for remarkable contributions in the respective industries. Being recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence, the gala ceremony was attended by the industry’s key decision-makers, figureheads, influencers, and media.
Ascott has strengthened its position as the world's leading player and operator in hotel apartments, expanding the portfolio to over 1,60,000 units across 900 properties. In India, with the Oakwood acquisition, Ascott has now 6 properties in its current portfolio across the cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai. Somerset’s victory among other highly competitive well-established serviced apartment brands in India is a testament to its exceptional service, dedication towards customers’ satisfaction and focusing on sustainable travel.
In 2022, Somerset brand refresh was unveiled under Ascott CARES - a sustainability framework aligned with the growth strategy on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations – to reinforce commitment in sustainable travel for multigenerational families, while also ensuring an inclusive, harmonious experience.
Mansur Ahmed, General Manager at Somerset, has played a pivotal role in upholding the brand values of Somerset and implementing them at the property and associate level, fostering an environment where guests and staff feel harmonious with each other. Speaking on the achievement he said, “We are honoured to receive the prestigious World Travel Awards that reaffirms our commitment to excellence in hospitality.
Our entire team is equally deserving to be a part of this recognition for their immense hard work and dedication to innovation, sustainability and providing memorable experience to our guests making Somerset a preferred choice among travellers across the globe.
Winning under the category of ‘India’s Leading Serviced Apartments 2023’ will encourage us to implement more comfortable, sustainable, and innovative customer-centric strategies in our business trends.” Anup Kumar, Director of Sales and Marketing, The Ascott Limited – India, “Receiving this prestigious recognition from World Travel Awards reflects Ascott’s relentless pursuit of excellence developed over the years.
The brand’s equal focus on ensuring luxurious comfort and sustainable initiatives had a significant role in achieving this milestone. We will continue our journey of creating an unforgettable experience for our guests and travellers and creating more and more positive impact on the hospitality sector.”
Mr. Rohan Rakendath, Area General Manager – India, The Ascott Limited expressed his gratitude saying, “Somerset Greenways Chennai has been a pioneer as serviced residence and is exemplary for its operations and is well-known entity. Felicitated with this award for two consecutive years not only bestows credibility on the Ascott brand in India but also opens doors to new opportunities, growth and enhancing customer loyalty.”
The Ascott Limited will remain committed to its future goals and aspirations in the hospitality industry, with a strong focus on sustainability in coming years. The lodging brand will upscale its service offerings reflecting dedication to shaping the future of hospitality, and ensuring that every guest experience continues to be exceptional, sustainable, and memorable.
About The Ascott Limited
Since pioneering Asia Pacific’s first international-class serviced residence with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984, Ascott has grown to be a trusted hospitality company with more than 930 properties globally. Headquartered in Singapore, Ascott’s presence extends across more than 220 cities in over 40 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA.
Ascott’s diversified accommodation offerings span serviced residences, coliving properties, hotels, and independent senior living apartments, as well as student accommodation and rental housing. Its award-winning hospitality brands include Ascott, Citadines, lyf, Oakwood, Quest, Somerset, The Crest Collection, The Unlimited Collection, Preference, Fox, Harris, POP!, Vertu and Yello; and it has a brand partnership with Domitys. Through Ascott Star Rewards (ASR), Ascott’s loyalty programme, members enjoy exclusive privileges and offers at participating properties.
A wholly owned business unit of CapitaLand Investment Limited, Ascott is a leading vertically-integrated lodging operator. Harnessing its extensive network of third-party owners and in-market expertise, Ascott grows fee-related earnings through its hospitality management and investment management capabilities. Ascott also expands its funds under management by growing its sponsored CapitaLand Ascott Trust and private funds.
For more information on Ascott’s industry record of close to 40 years and its sustainability programme, please visit www.discoverasr.com/the-ascott-limited. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About CapitaLand Investment Limited (www.capitalandinvest.com)
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 2023, CLI had S$134 billion of real estate assets under management, and S$89 billion of real estate funds under management (FUM) held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and more than 30 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 for scope 1 and 2 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.