By Kim Na-young
SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) — Hotel Lotte Co., a major South Korean hotel and duty-free shop operator, plans to open a lifestyle hotel and aquarium in Hanoi in August, company officials said Saturday.
Earlier this year, Lotte Properties Hanoi Co., a Vietnamese subsidiary of retail-to-leisure conglomerate Lotte Group, unveiled its plan to open a 128,900-square-meter shopping complex, Lotte Mall Westlake Hanoi, in the Tay Ho area of the Vietnamese capital on Aug. 25.
The mall will become the biggest commercial shopping complex in Vietnam, according to the company.
Shops of more than 50 popular brands, such as a Samsung flagship store, Apple Store, Dyson, Chanel and TAG Heuer, will be opened at the mall, as well as those of 51 brands that have not entered the country yet.
A photo of Lotte Mall Westlake Hanoi provided by Lotte Properties Hanoi Co. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Hotel Lotte’s five-star boutique hotel brand, L7, will also open on the seventh to 22nd floor of the shopping complex, company officials said.
The hotel will be the first L7 to open outside of South Korea. There are three L7 hotels in Seoul, located in Hongdae, Myeongdong and Gangnam.
The L7 Hanoi, with a French-colonial design, will have 264 hotel rooms and 192 residence rooms with views of Westlake available from the balconies of all the rooms, an infinity pool, a spa, a fitness center and four restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan.
According to company officials, Lotte World, the entertainment arm of Hotel Lotte, also plans to open an aquarium in the Vietnamese capital in August.
The 9,100-square-meter aquarium will showcase 31,000 marine creatures of over 400 different species, such as sharks, penguins and sea lions.
Meanwhile, Hotel Lotte will also open a duty-free store at Melbourne Airport in Australia in June.
nyway@yna.co.kr
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