KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Group, through unit City Kuala Lumpur, has earmarked US$60 million for a tantalising transformation of its flagship Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa here.
The investment is part of the group's drive to make Sunway City as Asia's leading integrated resort complex and a regional tourism hub.
Sunway City, in a statement today, said the transformation was most extensive initiative in the resort's 24-year history.
"It sets out a visionary remodelling for a premier hospitality and entertainment development."
The development would create a new benchmark for business and leisure experiences in the region for decades to come, it added.
Scheduled to reopen in phases from March 2021, Sunway Resort will be defined by seamless integration.
It will features the reimagined 478-room property complete with a world-renowned hero restaurant brand, six cascading waterfalls among two landscaped pools and extensive family and health facilities as the centrepiece of an enhanced destination experience.
Sunway Resort's transformation takes its place alongside the iconic family-focused Sunway Lagoon theme park which stretches over 88 acres and six entertainment zones.
"It is time, it is as simple as that," said Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah in the statement.
Cheah said the group had built Sunway City KL with Sunway Resort at its heart.
However, he said the group needed to step into the future as it embraced a new generation of leisure and business guests and brought together Sunway City as one fully-integrated premier hospitality and entertainment destination that would rival the very best in the world.
"We are committed to following our vision of responsible and sustainable development in line with the United Nations sustainable development goals that Sunway as a conglomerate espouses.
"We believe that through this philosophy and vision we can make a positive and far-reaching contribution to Malaysia," he said.
Sunway Resort had rebuilt swathes of the resort and re-imagined spaces offering a bold, glamourous and interconnected vision for the future.
A vertical farm by FutureX will be a key source of ingredients for all restaurants, offering healthy and farm-fresh produce for guests.
In minimising the hotel's carbon footprint, a host of environmental measures will be introduced.
This includes contactless check-in/out and digital hotel directories will eliminate the need for paper, while energy-saving air-conditioning systems and "Smart Curtains" will help to regulate room temperatures.
Solar panels, motion-sensor LED lighting and advanced water technologies will further enhance efficiency.
Plastic laundry bags have been abolished.