The 42-year-old iconic Copthorne Orchid Hotel along Dunearn Road (just before Whitley Road) will be walking into history on 1st April 2011. On its land covering almost 180,000 square feet, a high-end condominium of 150 units known as The Glyndebourne will be built.
The demolition of the six-storey hotel was initially planned to take place at the end of 2010, but the plans were shelved due to unfavourable property market sentiments.
The late Mr Kwek Hong Png, founder of Hong Heong Group, set up Heong Leong Company at Beach Road in 1940 with $7,000. The company expanded and diversified into different sectors over the years.
In 1972, Heong Leong entered into hospitality for the first time and took over Orchid Inn from the Pontiac Group. Orchid Inn would later become Novotel Orchid Inn and now Copthorne Orchid Hotel.
Long serving staffs of Copthorne Orchid Hotel would tell you their hottest topic of the yesteryear was probably the romance of Hong Kong celebrity Chow Yun Fatt and his Singaporean wife Jasmine Tan, who was once working as a receptionist at the hotel.
Other than the one at Dunearn Road, Heong Leong’s subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) also owns Grand Cpthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore, Copthorne King’s Hotel Singapore as well as Copthorne Orchid Hotel of Penang, Malaysia.
The Glynebourne is expected to be completed by 2015.
Published: 09 March 2011
Really sad to see this building go.
A few of my bestie and i used to worked as pt banquet staffs in the late nineties
We used to stay in the hotel room overnight as there was early breakfast for guest on seminars.