Guangzhou's hospitality industry is planning a major reorganization to save the time-honored star-rated hotels of the city.

Under the plan, DongFang Hotel and Oriental Resort Guangzhou belonging to the Yuexiu Group will be transferred to the Guangdong Ling Nan Enterprise Group to form a hotel cluster together with Ling Nan's Marriott China Hotel Guangzhou and the Garden Hotel Guangzhou.

According to local media, changes were considered for Guangzhou's old and famous five-star hotels several years ago when international hotel brands were entering the city. As a part of these efforts, the DongFang Hotel had a conference and exhibition center built for it at a cost of over 200 million yuan — this is said to be the largest of its kind in China. Baiyun Hotel also had 200 million yuan spent on updating it into a five-star hotel and the Garden Hotel had renovations that cost about 290 million yuan.

In addition Marriott China Hotel Guangzhou and International Hotel Guangdong are investing a huge amount on renovation. The White Swan Hotel will also have a major redecoration very soon.

(China Hospitality News March 16, 2009)