Adjacent Spaces

Ascott expands co-living brand

Insight comment
If anything Covid-19 has enhanced the idea of “community” and hospitality brands are realising that they need to offer more than just decent rooms in convenient locations. We’ve long talked about the hotelisation of other sectors and we should expect more hotel brands to move into or expand their offering in these adjacent spaces.

Ascott has expanded the portfolio of its co-living brand Lyf to a total of 17 properties with over 3,000 units in 13 cities and nine countries. 

The growth includes the newly opened Lyf Mid-Town Hangzhou, Ascott’s first Lyf-branded co-living property in China. It has also secured a management contract for its second Lyf property in Thailand, Lyf Riverside Bangkok. This follows the recent acquisition of its first Lyf property in Europe, Livelyfhere Gambetta Paris in June 2021.

Lyf, which stands for “live your freedom”, offers apartments, social spaces and experiential programmes all designed to create a strong sense of community. 

To date, Ascott, which is part of real estate investment manager CapitaLand Investment, has opened four Lyf properties in Singapore, Bangkok, Fukuoka and Hangzhou. Three more are slated to open later this year in Singapore, Xi’an and Shanghai. Between 2022 and 2025, 10 more Lyf properties are slated to open in Bangkok, Beijing, Cebu, Danang, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Paris, Shanghai and Singapore.

What They Said

Kevin Goh, CLI’s CEO for Lodging: “Ascott constantly innovates to position us for the future, designing products that not only provide unique experiences to customers, but also create greater value for our business partners and investors."

“We see the potential for more co-living investments by our existing trust and fund, or even a dedicated co-living lodging fund with like-minded capital partners to accelerate our growth.”

Tan Bee Leng, managing director for brand and marketing: “Lyf is a hybrid lodging solution that combines the best of serviced residences, hotels and co-living apartments. The concept continues to resonate well with our guests and partners across the world with new signings and property openings on track despite Covid-19.”