Why Did U.S.-Based Dream Hotels Drop Its Asia Expansion?
Skift Take
Dream Hotel Group had a choppy start in its attempt to expand in Asia. Now it seems to have given up on that dream.
New York-based Dream Hotel Group has evidently dropped plans to expand in Asia, closing its regional office after recently hiring new executives to push for growth.
The group’s development team on its website no longer includes Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa region, only the Americas, Latin America & Caribbean.
Dream first established an Asia-Pacific development team in Bangkok in early 2017. Its presence in Asia was dampened by last week's news that the developer of Dream Phuket Hotel & Spa, Singapore-based Castlewood Group, is in liquidation. The hotel opened in November 2015 under a franchise agreement which also called for “20 Dream Hotels over the next 10 years.”
The Straits Times of Singapore reported that Castlewood owed creditors, comprising mostly retail investors, about $107 million. Some of the disgruntled investors had even lodged a police repor
