M illennium Hotels & Resorts is making a hard charge in the lifestyle hotel segment. Last month, Saurabh Prakash, interim COO & chief commercial officer for the Singapore-based global hospitality company, was in New York for the opening of the 569-room M Social Hotel New York Downtown, a $ 60-million refashioning and rebranding of the prior Millennium Downtown New York, which the company, under Chairman Kwek Leng Beng, has owned since 1992. The new hotel, operated by Highgate Hotels, went through hard- and softgood improvements, including a new food and beverage concept called Beast & Butterflies, |
which promises a modern take on Spanish tapas.
The renovation was spearheaded by BHDM Design, with hotel interiors reinterpreting the Financial District’ s modern energy and iconic landmarks, including the Wall Street icon“ Charging Bull.” Murals of it adorn guestrooms and pay homage to the district’ s ambition and resilience. As Chairman Leng put it,“ This new addition reflects our confidence in the future of travel and our longterm commitment to building distinctive experiences in the world’ s most dynamic cities.”
M Social sits within Millennium’ s lifestyle vertical and includes properties in Singapore, Paris, Muscat, Dubai
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and Auckland, not to mention M Social Hotel New York Times Square, a quick subway ride north. In fact, M Social has even played in the metaverse, when Millennium launched M Social Decentraland in May 2022, making it the world’ s first hospitality group to operate a hotel in the metaverse virtual world. It’ s no surprise, then, that in 2026 it will open an M Social in Sunnyvale, Calif., close to Meta headquarters.
Prakash says the DNA of the M Social brand revolves around“ social connections,” of freedom and boldness, and that choosing the M Social brand to append to the hotel, which is located in the Financial District and close to the 9 / 11 Memorial and The Oculus, made sense after deep
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A guestroom at the newly opened M Social Hotel New York Downtown features a wall motif of the Wall Street“ Charging Bull.”
research.“ We found that this area is not only about corporate business, but also as an up-andcoming leisure destination,” he said.“ We thought that this resonated well with the M Social brand, because today’ s corporate traveler has moved away from the traditional business corporate mindset. They’ re looking for a place where they can have their individuality. M social is for the young at heart.”
Success at M Social Times
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64 hotelsmag. com November 2025 |