Singapore investor buys 5-star hotel in northern Vietnam for $38 mln

Singapore-based ASB HPL North Asia Pte Ltd has spent $38 million to acquire the five-star Hotel Perle D’Orient Cat Ba in Vietnam’s northern port city of Hai Phong, from domestic firm Truong Binh Minh JSC.

Hotel Perle D’Orient Cat Ba is the first internationally branded five-star hotel on Cat Ba Island and previously carried the MGallery brand, the upscale collection of Accor – a global hospitality group specializing in hotel and resort management.

The hotel comprises an 11-story building with 121 premium rooms. It was developed by Truong Binh Minh JSC, with construction starting in 2017 and total investment across two phases exceeding VND900 billion ($34.38 million). The hotel began operations on June 1, 2020.

ASB HPL North Asia Pte Ltd now fully owns Hotel Perle D’Orient Cat Ba through its acquisition of Truong Binh Minh JSC, which was originally established as a limited liability company in 2001 in Hai Phong.

Specifically, on October 16, 2024, HPL Properties (SEA) Pte Ltd (HPLPSEA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), acquired a 50% stake in ASB HPL North Asia Pte Ltd (AHNA), a company incorporated in Singapore, by way of subscribing for 10 shares at $1 each, totaling $10.

AHNA in turn has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% equity interest in Truong Binh Minh JSC.

Notably, the 50% partner in ASB HPL North Asia Pte Ltd is ASB Hospitality, a unit of Albwardy Investment, a leading UAE investment holding company.

HPL and ASB have been long-standing partners in the high-end resort real estate sector. The two have jointly owned and developed a series of five-star properties under the Four Seasons brand in destinations including Seychelles, Serengeti, and Johannesburg in South Africa, and notably the Maldives.

In Vietnam, prior to the Hai Phong hotel transaction, HPL and ASB had successfully partnered on the Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, central Vietnam, in 2016.

Foreign-owned hotel changes hands to local firm

On the other hand, in 2025, Parkroyal Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City was transferred from a foreign investor to a domestic Vietnamese firm. The property has been renamed Garden Plaza Saigon. Its website shows the new owner as TCG Land Limited Company, headquartered in Vietnam’s northern province of Ninh Binh and owned by Hanoi-based Thanh Cong Group.

Located near Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Garden Plaza Saigon has 186 rooms. The hotel officially opened in 1997 as Novotel Garden Plaza Saigon and was then managed by Accor.

In 2008, the property was rebranded as Parkroyal Saigon, with management transferred to Parkroyal Hotels & Resorts Pte Ltd, a unit of Singapore’s UOL Group. UOL disclosed the transaction value at $15.7 million.

JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group property service provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), which advised on both transactions, told the press that the combined value of both deals totaled $53.7 million.

The $200 million market

Le Thi Huyen Trang, country head of property service provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Vietnam, said that while the market remains at an earlier stage of development compared with more mature destinations such as Thailand and Singapore, Vietnam offers compelling fundamentals including strong economic growth, expanding tourism infrastructure, and competitive valuations.

Trang forecast that in 2026, Vietnam is projected to reach $200 million in hotel transactions for the first time, marking a significant turning point for the market.

Karan Khanijou, senior vice-president, investment sales, Asia, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, said “Well-capitalized Vietnamese investors, including hospitality specialists and diversifying corporations, are driving transactions across urban and resort properties, while foreign investors selectively target premium institutional-grade assets, as highlighted by recent transactions.”

“Our revised forecast of $200 million for 2026 reflects the growing confidence international and regional investors have in Vietnam’s hotel sector fundamentals and long-term growth trajectory.”