First came Wink Hotels’ debut in Ho Chi Minh City with its inaugural
hotel bravely launched in March 2021 at the height of the pandemic. Now
this bold newcomer is charging forward with the addition of two new
hotels in Danang.
The
going hasn’t been easy for Wink Hotels. Covid-19 reared its ugly head
when the Vietnam home-grown lifestyle hospitality brand was preparing to
launch the first of its hotels — the Wink Hotel Saigon Centre — and it
had a responsibility to its staff who were just hired and trained.
Rather than taking the easy way out and postponing its launch,
Michael Piro, CEO of Wink Hotels and COO of Indochina Capital
Corporation, brazenly declared: “Let’s ride it out”.
“We asked ourselves if the pandemic really mattered considering that
this would be a 10- to 15-year gameplan,” explained Piro. “We’re
building a brand, and at that point, we decided it just get it out.
Furthermore, I couldn't do it to to my people, I had to protect them.”
Wink Hotels’ CEO Michael Piro says that the brand neither discriminates nor shows preferential treatment to their guests.
That fearless perseverance paid off. The Wink Hotel Saigon Centre hit
100% occupancy rates in its first several months despite being caught
up in the eye of the Covid-19 storm due to a legislation imposed by the
Vietnamese government that required workers from the same factory to all
be housed under the same roof as an “insulation bubble”.
But factory workers weren’t exactly its target market, and now that
travel is rebounding, Wink Hotels is looking to leverage its potential
and unique brand positioning as an edgy, inclusive and democratic
lifestyle hotel brand to take the millennial traveller market by storm.
“We go against the traditional conventions of the typical hospitality
world,” Piro cheekily quipped, while gesturing to his casual ensemble
comprising a polo tee printed with Wink Hotels’ logo and jeans as
evidence. “I’m not wearing a suit today, I never do. This is the same
outfit that every staff from the bellboy to the manager wears at Wink.
We’re completely democratised.”
“Our staff are not butlers there to only carry travellers’ bags,”
Piro expounded. “They’re there to guide their stay, from pointing
travellers to the best coffee to the best hairdresser in town.”
“If travellers want to feel like a local and want to be amongst
friends, in addition to knowing that everyone in the hotel, including
our staff, is treated with respect, this is the place for them. Whether
you’re a US ambassador or a tattoo artist, both will be treated exactly
the same and will be afforded the quintessential Wink Hotels’ friendly
treatment, no one will get lesser attention or preferential treatment.”
Wink Hotel Danang Centre will feature 244 rooms and a sky bar.
The upcoming launches of Wink Hotels’ two new properties in Danang
offer just that same heartwarming hospitality for an array of diverse
travellers. It also represents another step forward in the hospitality
brand’s expansion plans across Vietnam, with 20 hotels in the pipeline
for the next five to seven years.
The 244-key Wink Hotel Danang Centre is slated to open in end-2022.
Located in Danang’s downtown district, the hotel will feature 30 family
rooms and one-bedroom apartments, and a sky bar on the 19th floor.
Early 2023 will see the launch of Wink Hotel Danang Riverside, a
hotel and suites complex boasting a 60m long lobby on the fifth floor
overlooking the Han River. The hotel offers 287 rooms and 70 suites
along with three floors worth of restaurants, bar, entertainment
facilities and a co-working space.
Guests staying at Wink Hotel Danang Riverside can expect a range of F&B options and entertainment facilities.
Piro is ecstatic in welcoming more guests from heavily tattooed
individuals to international ambassadors at these two new Danang
properties.
“It’s great to be back in Danang, the beautiful beach city once home
to a lot of our early Indochina Capital projects such as Four Seasons
The Nam Hai and Hyatt Regency Danang,” said Piro. “To have the honour of
being a part of the opening of our unique brand of tech-driven,
sustainability-minded hotels here in this new era of travel is
especially thrilling.”