Landis Taipei Hotel (台北亞都麗緻飯店), the flagship property of Landis Hospitality Group (麗緻餐旅集團), hopes to make a profit comeback this year, led by food and beverage sales after it won Michelin recognition in March, executives said yesterday.
The group posted losses of NT$0.6 per share in the first six months of this year, widening from NT$0.11 per share for all of last year, as the 39-year-old facility renovated its guestrooms in two phases to cope with increasing competition in a stagnating market.
“Profitability is achievable this year with occupancy set to rise above 70 percent based on bookings on hand,” general manager Newman Yen (顏鎮國) said on the sidelines of a public function.
Occupancy hovered between 40 and 50 percent last year and in the first half of this year, as the renovation limited capacity, Yen said.
The situation has improved now that the renovation is over and the high sales season is approaching, he said.
Revenue totaled NT$399 million (US$13 million) from January to June with accommodation and dining facilities each contributing 43.6 percent, according to data filed with the Taipei Exchange.
The renovation might allow the hotel in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to raise daily room rates by NT$200 this year to reflect the facility upgrade, Yen said.
Food and beverage sales fared better, picking up 20 percent in the first six months, after its Chinese restaurant, Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓), won one-star recognition from the Michelin Guide’s Taipei edition in March, Yen said.
The honor also benefited the hotel’s banquet facilities, he said.
As it specializes in Hangzhou cuisine, the restaurant is working with PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) chairman Jan Hung-tze (詹宏志) to offer a special menu that features delicacies made from recipes by Jan’s late wife, Wang Hsuan-yi (王宣一).
“Hangzhou cuisine is a synonym for unique and exquisite delicacies and it is a challenge to copy Wang’s recipes,” Jan said.
The special menu, priced at NT$26,800 for a table of 10 plus a 10 percent service charge, is to be available from next month, the hotel said.
Wang, who died of heart failure during a trip to Italy in February 2015, was known for her passion for gastronomy. She worked as a food critic and wrote children’s literature, among other achievements.
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