• Ms Elizabeth Khoo – Owner & Company Director
Date of birth: February 1959
Nationality: Singaporean
Nature of control:
Ownership of shares – 75% or more with control over the trustees of a trust
Ownership of voting rights – 75% or more with control over the trustees of a trust (further explanation in the Company Structure section)
Country of residence: United Kingdom & Singapore

• Mr Kim Hai Eric Khoo – Owner & Company Director
Date of birth: March 1965
Nationality: Singaporean
Nature of control:
Ownership of shares – 75% or more with control over the trustees of a trust
Ownership of voting rights – 75% or more with control over the trustees of a trust
(further explanation in the Company Structure section)
Country of residence: Singapore

• Mrs Mavis Bee Geok Khoo – Owner & Company Director
Date of birth: November 1946
Nationality: Singaporean
Nature of control
Ownership of shares – 75% or more with control over the trustees of a trust
Ownership of voting rights – 75% or more with control over the trustees of a trust
(further explanation in the Company Structure section)
Country of residence: Singapore

• Statement of Capital (Share Capital)
Class of Shares: A ORDINARY
Currency: GBP
Number Allotted: 20000000
Aggregate nominal value: 20000000
Amount paid per share: 1
Amount unpaid per share: 0

• Statement of Capital (Share Capital)
Class of Shares: B ORDINARY
Currency: GBP
Number Allotted: 20000000
Aggregate nominal value: 20000000
Amount paid per share: 1
Amount unpaid per share: 0

Prescribed Particulars: Each share is entitled to one vote in any circumstances

• Statement of Capital (Total)
Currency: GBP
Number Allotted: 40000000
Aggregate nominal value: 40000000

None of the Directors mentioned above, had any interest in the shares of the Company during 2019. The shares of the directors in the ultimate parent company are shown in the books of the immediate parent company, Royal Garden (Jersey) Limited (C. No. JE61954-registered in Jersey) and ultimate parent company Hotel Holdings (Private) Limited (C. No. 196300305R-registered in Singapore)

Royal Garden Hotel (Jersey) Limited Registration details in JFSC Companies Registry

Hotel Holdings (Private) Limited Registration details in ACRA

The latest piece of info including details of the Company’s Shareholders was published on 11/04/2016 depicting the distribution of shares among the subsidiary companies:

• Full Details of Shareholders (as it was in 2016)

Shareholding 1: 20000000 A ORDINARY shares held as at the date of this return
Name: Royal Garden Hotel (Jersey) Limited (immediate parent company)

Shareholding 2: 12400000 B ORDINARY shares held as at the date of this return
Name: GOODWOOD PARK HOTEL LTD (current name THE GOODWOOD HOTEL LIMITED. A Subsidiary of Hotel Holdings (Private) Limited in the UK and the group of hotels under which Royal Garden operates. )

Based on the data above, the three Directors probably possess shares of the Royal Gardens Hotel Limited through multiple other companies being subordinate to the ultimate parent company.

• Employees: Training, Retention, Special Policies for Disabled Workers
The Company’s policy is to consult and discuss with employees matters likely to affect employees’ interests at meetings. Information on matters of concern to employees is given through information bulletins and reports which seek to achieve common awareness on the part of all employees of the financial and economic factors affecting the Company’s performance.

The Company’s policy is to recruit disabled workers for those vacancies that they are able to fill. All necessary assistance with initial training courses is given. Once employed, a career plan is developed so as to ensure suitable opportunities for each disabled person. Arrangements are made, where possible, for retaining employees who become disabled, to enable them to perform work identified as appropriate to their aptitudes and abilities.

• Employee Benefits Strategy
The Company contributes to five post-employment benefit plans, three with Scottish Widows of which two are now closed to new employees, one with Standard Life and one with B & CE (People’s Pension) for all new employees in line with Auto-enrolment pension rules.

All of these plans consist of individual personal pension plans. The Company will contribute a fixed percentage of basic salary to these personal pension plans provided that the employee makes a contribution as well. The Company will have no legal or constructive legal obligation to pay further amounts.

The assets of all of the schemes are held separately from those of the Company in an independently administered fund. The obligations and contributions to these defined contribution pension plans are recognised as an expense in the profit loss account in the period in which the services are rendered by employees.

• Turning to Local Hiring due to Brexit Uncertainty
There might be a change in employee mix as the hotel depends on the hiring of employees from other EU countries that are of lower wages. This will see an increase in employee cost, having to hire more employees locally.

• Growth Focused
For 2020 the target is to grow total revenue by 4.0% (2019 growth rate was 2.1%), which would be outperforming the PWC forecast for London of between 1.5%-1.7%. The industry STR reports indicate that there is a potential to grow its bedroom rate, and Food & Beverage business will also be growing both its covers and spending in 2020.

• Competition Studying
The hotel compares its performance against a competitive set of similarly rated hotels in London. The criteria used are occupancy percentage, average room rate and revenue per available room.

Against this benchmark, in 2018/2019 the Royal Garden Hotel shows an increased occupancy percentage of 6.4% compared to its competitor’s decrease of 6.5% and an average room rate increase of 1.2%, which is lower than the 8.2% achieved by competitors. The overall result of 7.6% in yield is lower than the benchmark of 15.2% recorded by its competitors.

Risk Management Strategies:

• Credit risk
The Company has implemented policies that require appropriate credit checks on potential customers and suppliers before sales or large purchases are mode or contractual obligations entered into.

• Interest rate risk
The Company has both interest-bearing assets and interest-bearing liabilities. All cash balances earn interest at local bonk rates. Both the Company and its parent review interest rates periodically to ensure that rates are the most advantageous to the group as a whole.

• Foreign currency exchange risk
Bank accounts are maintained in sterling only to reduce the exposure of fluctuating exchange rates.

• Compliance risk
The Company has implemented policies that require both employees and potential customers and suppliers to be made aware of the risks in not following the laid down procedures related to legislative compliance. These are designed to manage and limit the adverse effects on the Company.

• Located in the heart of Kensington, the Royal Garden Hotel is a busy and sleek luxury hotel that attracts diplomats and other high-profile guests.
• The Royal Garden Hotel is also a family-friendly location.
Video: “The Royal Garden Hotel – Igniting imagination. Building everlasting memories”

With Kensington Gardens and three world-class museums in walking distance, the hotel’s location makes it the perfect base for a family break.

Customer Reviews

Tripadvisor

Overall Rating:
4.5/5 (4,784 reviews)
• Excellent 3,245
• Very Good 1,024
• Average of 304
• Poor 123
• Terrible 88

Hit and miss-May 2020 (3/5)

“We stayed here for one night as we were going to the theatre. All staff were absolutely lovely, friendly and helpful. I would not class the rooms as 5*, they were very dated with chipped furniture and the bath was badly chipped with an old-fashioned tiny shower head over it. There were nice Penhaligon toiletries in the bathroom though. The bedding was of very poor quality, the pillows were old and almost flat and the quilt was very thin so we got cold in the night.

The heating was very hit and miss too, maybe they were saving money as the hotel was almost empty according to the receptionist. We did have a lovely view of Kensington Palace though. I also thought they were rather mean with the teabags, just 2 in the room so we had to choose between tea on our arrival or the next morning. Due to the coronavirus situation, the hotel was almost empty but we were asked if we wanted to pay for an upgrade. I would have thought that they would have automatically upgraded customers who hadn’t cancelled as a thank you.

The food at breakfast was of a high quality but I was very disconcerted to see a customer at the breakfast buffet wearing pyjamas (a fully grown man)! I did wonder if he had washed himself that morning before coming down to breakfast and how hygenic it was. I feel the hotel should have had a word with him and asked him to get dressed.

I probably wouldn’t stay here again as there is a nearby 5* hotel (the Milestone) which is so far superior, I would go there next time.”

Rugby International Weekend-March 2020
“We love this hotel, with a warm welcome and service from all the staff. Worth paying the premium for the garden view over Hyde Park and Kensington Palace. We were out and about for the rugby international and theatre, and apart from the room, only really used the breakfast facility – great choice and attentive staff. Enjoyed a good walk around Hyde Park and then to Twickenham starting at the nearby High Street Kensington Tube Station. A lovely weekend – we look forward to visiting again.”

Staff were all smiley, but fake and unhelpful-Feb 2020
“Booked for two, you only had us down for one. You did fix this quickly and without fuss. We only had one towel. We get a phone call asking if everything was okay. We said but we only have one towel and asked for one to be sent up. I was told it would be up shortly. About 15 minutes later we get another call asking the same question. We said yes, still waiting on the towel. We had plans for the evening so approx two hours after we arrived we went out. We weren’t able to shower beforehand, only one towel. There was a second towel by the time we got back around 23:00, no idea when it was delivered.

We wanted to have a nice bath before we left but couldn’t get it to work. After breakfast we asked at reception if they didn’t mind having someone show us. They said they’ll send someone right up. No one showed”

Customers experience on YouTube

Video 1: A family’s experience at the Royal Garden Hotel

Video 2: Room Tour

Video 3: Couples’ 24 hours experience at the hotel

• To make their customers to feel at home from the moment they walk in.

The welcoming environment helps children feel at home while parents get the 5-star luxury they deserve.

• It is important the hotels’ customers to enjoy the restaurants’ food without having to leave.

The average number of persons employed by the Company including directors during 2019 was 351 (2018:357).

Employee reviews

Glassdoor

Overall Glassdoor Rating: 3.5/5

Current Employee – Night Concierge in London, England-September 12, 2020
Rating: 3/5
“excellent opportunity to progress”
I have been working at Royal Garden Hotel full-time

Pros

• lots of benefits within the company

Cons

• it can be challenging working at night

Current Employee – Food and Beverage -August 19, 2020
Rating: 4/5
“Family environment”
I have been working at Royal Garden Hotel full-time

Pros

• Friendly and fun team Good pay and benefits

Cons

• Management don’t act quickly enough to keep up with market trends

Former Employee – Back Office in London, England-January 31, 2020
Rating: 1/5
“Old school hotel”
Doesn’t Recommend
Neutral Outlook
No opinion of CEO
I worked at Royal Garden Hotel full-time for less than a year

Pros

• You can find nice people from interesting backgrounds.

Cons

• A lot of “managers” are there purely on face value- not doing much but walking around and clicking computer mouse pretending to be busy.

Indeed

Overall Indeed Rating: 4.1/5

Waitress (Former Employee) – Kensington and Chelsea, Greater London – 12 December 2019
Rating:4.0/5
“productive and fun place to work
It is a lovely place to work. very friendly staff and amazing staff meals. i would recommend working here if you are looking for full time as they offer amazing hours and great pay”

Laundry department (Former Employee) – London – 1 October 2019
Rating: 1.0/5
“Worst place ever worked for
Managements have been there for long time and do not want to change much or nothing at all, difficult to get things done as no budget available when approach management. Do not care but expect you to provide high end service without the tool’s”

Location
• Situated in central Kensington
• The hotel is close to the Kensington Palace & Gardens
• Only minutes away from some of the capital’s most popular tourist attractions
• Panoramic views of Kensington Palace and Gardens, Hyde Park and London’s skyline.

Customers benefits
• Royalty Rewards Scheme
• Exceptional value and excellent customer service

Personalised services
• Family Escape Package:
Personalised services which include many added extras such as backpacks full of goodies for children and micro-scooters to enjoy around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.

• HEIR B&B PACKAGE:
An Ideal bed and breakfast package.
With rooms facing the Palace Gardens, beautiful muse scenery or the Royal Borough of Kensington, customers’ view is guaranteed to be a regal one.
Not only will they stay in one of the hotel’s beautifully appointed rooms they will dine on a plentiful English Breakfast and receive an exclusive rate, only when they book direct.

• Easy Life Package:
Customers who are planning to stay for 2 nights or more, they can book this package including free parking, complimentary breakfast and a stunning room, taking all the stress out of their trip.

• Special room service menu and early dining in Park Terrace Restaurant also available for families.

The Company’s principal activity during 2019 was and will continue to be, that of hotelier at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London.

Annual Report

Locations

2-24 Kensington High St
Kensington
London
W8 4PT

Social Media

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Awards

• Travellers Choice 2020 by Trip advisor
• Investors in People Accreditation (year received not mentioned)
• AA Inspectors Choice Hotel (year received not mentioned)

Competitors List(alphabetical order)
Criterion: Industry subcategory, Company Size and Product

• Conrad London St. James
  Employee Count: 51-200 (based on their LinkedIn Profile, Section About)
• Hilton London Kensington
  Employee Count: 201-500 (based on their LinkedIn Profile, Section About)
• London Marriott Hotel Kensington
  Employee Count: 51-200 (based on their LinkedIn Profile, Section About)
• The Milestone Hotel
  Employee Count: 112:2019
• The Ritz London
  Employee Count: 407:2018