Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic arriving at the hotel with his teammates as fans wait to meet and greet. A Croatian, he usually plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for the team. (Photo credit: Ong Wee Jin/The Straits Times)
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Singapore
Inter Milan makes JW Marriott Singapore South Beach its home base.
Italian giant Inter Milan was the first of four major football teams to arrive in Singapore for the International Champions Cup (July 20-21), an annual pre-season tournament played across several countries.
The other teams that played in Singapore are English teams Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, and Italian team Juventus.
Inter Milan stayed at the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach hotel during July 17-21 and were given the royal treatment with about 100 staff catering to the VIP group. According to Singapore’s national daily The Straits Times, Hotel Manager Ms Luna Bajracharya said the players had their own private floor for security and privacy. The lift lobby was also transformed to include a snack bar for the team’s added convenience.
The hotel’s 100-seater Japanese restaurant Akira Back was reserved throughout their entire stay and operated from 6:30am till midnight for the team, with the chefs on standby to cater to their dining requests.
Ms Bajracharya also said a few suites were converted into temporary wellness rooms with massage beds and storage areas for the team’s equipment. The team also had about 50kg of ice delivered to the wellness rooms daily.
This is not the first time the three-year old hotel has played host to a major football team. Last year for the 2018 International Champions Cup in Singapore, French team Paris Saint-Germain were guests at the hotel while German club Bayern Munich stayed at the hotel in 2017 during the competition.
At the International Champions Cup Singapore this year, Manchester United beat Inter Milan 1-0 while Tottenham Hotspur beat Juventus 3-2.
