Centara opens in Sri Racha
Centara Hotel and Resorts has expanded into Chon Buri’s Sri Racha district for the first time, offering a new beachfront hotel under a management agreement.
Centara spent some 500 million baht to renovate the property located near Pattaya and U-tapao airport.
The new hotel is prepared to service a growing number of investors working at various industries in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
The property offers 145 units ranging from 27-64 square metres, of which 30% is allotted for long-stay Japanese expats who work at industrial estates in Sri Racha, also known as little Japan.
The rest will be for short-stay guests looking for a private weekend break with family near Bangkok, said Chalermrat Khumsawad, general manager at Centara Sonrisa Residences and Suites Sriracha.
“Some tour operators include Sri Racha in tour packages to lure Chinese tourists instead of Pattaya, which some feel is overcrowded,” he said.
The hotel also has a 120-person ballroom for Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions). Mice guests account for 10-15% of the property’s short-stay visitors, mostly Thais.
Centara Sonrisa Residences and Suites Sriracha held a soft opening on June 15 and officially opens on Sept 19.
Mr Chalermrat said the occupancy rate in July was 28%, which is better than expected for the first month of operations. The hotel expects occupancy for 2020 to be at least 50%.
Centara also plans to launch another managed hotel in Krabi province and a new Cosi hotel in Pattaya this year.
Centara Hotels and Resorts is a unit of SET-listed Central Plaza Hotels.
“Smile Group is talking with Centara about opening another hotel with 121 rooms within three years, using either the Centra or Cosi brand, at Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate. The initial budget is 300 million baht,” said Nutsarai Chaijindaratana, managing director at Smile Condo 2011, a unit of Smile Group.
She said Sri Racha faces an oversupply after investors from Japan left the area for other destinations the past two years.
There are about 10,000 rooms in this area. However, two big hotels with 800 rooms combined are under development and set to open at the end of this year, said Ms Nutsarai.
She said the situation will take a few years to resolve when the number of new rooms are absorbed thanks to business opportunities in the province.