A new nine-storey, full-service hotel with 350 guest rooms will open at Changi Airport in 2008.

It will have facilities such as a swimming pool, restaurants, meeting and conference rooms, spa lounges as well as a health and fitness club.

The airport hotel will be located at a site of approximately 7,700 square metres next to the upcoming Terminal 3, and will be physically linked to it.

Hotel guests will also be able to reach Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 via an elevated People Mover System that will link all the three passenger terminals.

To enable guests to travel to other parts of Singapore, there will be easy access from the hotel to the Changi Airport Mass Rapid Transit station.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has leased the site to local property development company LC Development.

In announcing the award, CAAS says it is confident the new airport hotel will complement the existing transit hotels at Terminals 1 and 2 to meet the popular demand for hotel accommodation at Changi Airport, especially for travellers with short layovers in Singapore.

LC Development has appointed the InterContinental Hotels Group to manage the hotel under its Crowne Plaza hotel brand.

Said Wong Woon Liong, Director-General of Civil Aviation, CAAS, said, "The new airport hotel will enhance the convenience of air travellers by offering them hotel accommodation they could check into shortly after clearing immigration and customs at Changi Airport. As a full-service hotel, it will offer a wide range of facilities and services that will cater to the different needs of our travellers." -