Regent Hotels & Resorts is a British-American luxury hospitality brand, founded by hotelier Robert H. Burns in 1970. After passing through different owners since foundation, it is currently jointly owned by IHG Hotels & Resorts and Formosa International Hotels Corporation since July 2018, with hotels and resorts in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

History

The brand was founded by hotelier Robert H. Burns as a joint venture with Japan's Tokyu Group in 1970, opening its first property in Waikiki Beach,

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

in 1971. Burns was, soon after, joined by Georg Rafael and Adrian Zecha, who together developed and expanded Regent's footprint to 17 hotels worldwide. In 1981, The Regent Hong Kong opened to great acclaim and was consistently labelled "the world's best hotel". The Regent Beverly Wilshire joined the chain in 1985, and later served as the setting for the 1990 film

Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and written by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), ...

, which helped cement Regent's reputation as a luxury hotel operator at the time. In 1986, EIE International acquired a 35% stake. When Burns decided to sell his remaining 65% stake in 1992, EIE exercised its

right of first refusal Right of first refusal (ROFR or RFR) is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transactio ...

to acquire the entire company, which was then promptly sold to the Four Seasons hotel chain. Regent properties that were under development at the time of purchase in Bali, Milan, New York, and Istanbul were subsequently opened under the Four Seasons flag. Furthermore, Regent Hotels in Jakarta, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Sydney, as well as the Beverly Wilshire were likewise absorbed into the Four Seasons chain. In 1998, Carlson acquired the Regent name for new hotel developments and created a luxury hotel division while Four Seasons continued managing existing and new Regent hotels, thus labelling existing Regents as "a Four Seasons Hotel". In 2002, Carlson agreed with Rezidor SAS to develop the Regent hotel brand in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Projects were announced in Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Hungary, but none materialized under the Regent brand under Carlson's ownership. In March 2006, Carlson renamed its Radisson Seven Seas Cruises as

Regent Seven Seas Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC), formerly known as Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States. Since September 2014, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegi ...

and merged the cruise operation and Regent International Hotels under a common brand. In 2008, Regent Seven Seas Cruises was sold to

Apollo Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American Asset Management, asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including ...

, an investment company. Carlson retained ownership of the master Regent brand, along with the operations of Regent Hotels & Resorts around the world. In 2010, Carlson sold the Regent business to Formosa International Hotels, the largest listed hotel operator in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and owner of Grand Formosa Regent Taipei hotel in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Taiwan, which was opened by Regent's founders in 1990 as The Regent Taipei. Co-founder Robert Burns was appointed Honorary Chairman, and Ralf Ohletz as president. Ohletz had worked with another Regent co-founder, Adrian Zecha, for 25 years. In March 2018, IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) announced that it had agreed to buy a 51% majority stake in Regent Hotels for $39 million and planned to expand the brand to 40 hotels from six hotels at acquisition. This includes rebranding the InterContinental Hong Kong, which initially opened as a Regent property in 1980, to a Regent property once again in 2022 following major renovations. As part of the acquisition deal, IHG has the right to acquire the remaining 49% of Regent in a phased manner from 2026. New properties have since been signed in Kuala Lumpur, Chengdu, Shanghai and Jeddah. Since the acquisition of Regent by IHG, the brand logo, monogram and identity were changed in May 2019, where IHG has positioned the brand as its top end offering in the luxury hotel segment.

Properties

Current hotel properties

Current branded residences

The following lists standalone branded residences that operate under the Regent name.

Pipeline properties

The following lists pipeline properties as listed in the IHG website.

Former properties

The following lists formerly-affiliated properties that no longer carry the Regent branding, listed according to their exit from the Regent system.

Terminated properties

The following Regent property developments were either rebranded or terminated before opening: * The Regent Balikpapan, Indonesia - opened in 1980 as Hotel Benakutai, currently The New Benakutai * The Regent Park Hotel,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Bay, Japan - opened 1988 as Dai-ichi Hotel Tokyo Bay, currently Hotel Okura Tokyo Bay * The Regent

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan - opened 1991 as InterContinental Yokohama Grand * The Regent

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

, Indonesia - opened 1992 as Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay * The Regent

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy - opened 1993 as Four Seasons Hotel Milano * The Regent New York, United States - opened 1993 as Four Seasons Hotel New York * The Regent

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey - opened 1996 as Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet * The Regent

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico - announced in 1999 with a planned opening in 2000, never materialized * The Regent

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada - announced in 1999 with a planned opening in 2001, never materialized * The Regent

Los Cabos LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service (transportation), Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a ...

, Mexico - announced in 1999 with a planned opening in 2001, never materialized * The Regent Punta Maroma, Mexico - announced in 1999 with a planned opening in 2001 * The Regent

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

, Croatia - planned opening 2008, never materialized * The Regent

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

at Battery Wharf, United States - opened 2009 as Fairmont Battery Wharf, currently Battery Wharf Hotel * The Regent

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

at Canal Point, United Arab Emirates - planned opening 2010, never materialized * The Regent

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, Kuwait - planned opening 2007, opened 2013 as

Jumeirah Jumeirah ( Emirati pronunciation: ) is a coastal residential area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates mainly comprising low rise private dwellings and hotel developments. It has both expensive and large detached properties as well as more modest town ...

Messilah Beach Hotel and Spa * The Regent

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

, India - planned opening 2013, never materialized * The Regent

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar - planned opening 2013, opened 2016 as The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa * Regent Place

Xian Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, China - planned opening 2017 * Regent Place

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, China - planned opening 2017 * The Regent

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, United Arab Emirates - planned opening 2013, opened 2018 as Grand Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Residences Emirates Pearl * The Regent

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Thailand - planned in 2004, stalled for many years, opened 2018 as Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit * The Regent

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, China - planned opening 2018, never materialized * The Regent

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

, China - planned opening 2005, opened 2021 as HUALUXE Ningbo Harbor City * The Regent

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary - planned opening 2007, opened 2023 as W Budapest

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Regent Hotels And Resorts Companies based in Taipei Hotels established in 1970 Taiwanese brands Former Carlson (company) subsidiaries InterContinental Hotels Group brands Franchises 1970 establishments in Arizona