Chris Ely

Chris Ely is a proven hotelier and Asset Manager with over 20 years of hotel operations experience, from luxurious lifestyle resorts to mid-scale and high-end city hotels. Based in Singapore, Chris currently leads the asset management and operator selection business for CBRE, where he works closely with owners, investors and operators to unlock value by optimising profitability.

Leveraging his exposure across the Asia Pacific region and his strong global relationships with hotel owners, his background provides him with the unique ability to combine operational expertise with commercial investment experience to align all stakeholders behind investment objectives.

Prior to CBRE, Chris was Vice President (Business Development and Asset Management) of Next Story Group. In this role, Chris was responsible for developing and executing the regional development plans. He also oversaw the asset management of the Group’s portfolio of 18 hotel assets across Australia and Southeast Asia as well as 5 co-working spaces.

He was previously Senior VP and Head of Asset Management at JLL and was responsible for the team’s overall portfolio of asset management and operator selection projects across Singapore and Asia Pacific. During his career, Chris concurrently managed multiple properties across many borders and was previously in charge of a high-performing team that looked after over 600+ rooms and 21 F&B outlets. His experience in the Singapore market also included pre-opening support and asset management of InterContinental Robertson Quay, Sofitel Singapore City Centre, Duxton Club and Raffles Hotel.

Chris also spent over 10 years with the Jumeirah Group where he held several senior positions, including the General Manager role at Jumeirah Dhevanafushi (now Raffles Meradhoo Maldives) as well as Hotel Manager of Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai which had 619 hotel rooms and 21 F&B outlets as well as large banqueting facilities, spa, leisure facilities and marina.