Salomon's Lim says the developer's stable rental and hotel income (it owns the King's Hotel in Singapore and the Marriott in Hong Kong) is helping cushion it from Singapore's residential property downturn.
One example: The Raffles hotel chain has created two restaurant brands, Doc Cheng's and Jaan's, based on the Singapore-based originals and their fusion of Western and Asian cuisine.
"In the late 1980s, Hilton was among the first luxury hotel brands to utilize the service, " says Mike Bare, co-owner and president of Bare International and one of the original founders of the MSPA. Three decades later, it's common practice among hotel brands around the world. (Proof: LRA recently opened a satellite office in busy Singapore.) And soon enough, its taciturn nature may be over.