Urban to build eighth hotel
Urban Hospitality Group, a local developer of hotels and offices, plans to build a new city hotel worth 400 million baht in Bangkok’s prime Sukhumvit area next year to serve growing tourist numbers.
According to managing director Wutthiphon Taworntawat, the 120-room hotel, Quarter at Phromphong, will be the eighth hotel in its portfolio. Construction is expected to start in the middle of next year.
The latest hotel development plan came shortly after the group unveiled in May this year it would build a hotel worth 400 million baht in Bangkok’s Phloenchit area to serve the many tourists and business travellers visiting the area.
The Quarter at Ploenchit will be the seventh property in its portfolio. Construction is expected to start in February 2018, and the opening in mid-2019.
Sukhumvit has grown into an area of high-end condominiums. It has long been the residences f or expatriates and i nternational communities. I n recent years, with the development of upscale malls, office buildings, bars and restaurants, the venue has become increasingly popular among both leisure and business travellers.
To add to the scene is a new lifestyle mall, Emsphere, the next phase of a mega shopping complex, EM District, located in an area currently home to the amusement park Dinosaur Planet.
Meanwhile, developers, both local and international, are racing to open new hotels in the area. Hotels under construction include the Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place, Ibis/Mercure, Singaporean Carlton group, and Japanese hotel Solaria Nishitetsu.
Outside Sukhumvit, Bangkok is seeing the number of new hotels rising. Last year, Urban Hospitality Group kicked off two mixed-use high-rise projects, Ari Hills and Ladprao Hills, both consisting of hotels, offices, and retail spaces, due to open in the first quarter of 2018.
During 2016-17, the group has invested a combined 3 billion baht in these hotels and a mixed-use project in the capital.
“Additional properties will allow us to optimise our existing resources to their full potential, and yield management and economies of scale that will be pushed to a greater extent,” he said.
“We’re confident that our tourism industry will continue to grow over next decades,” he said.
Currently, the group operates four hotels: Evergreen Place Bangkok, The Residence on Thonglor, Asoke Residence Sukhumvit, and Alt Hotel Nana.
Occupancy rate across its four hotels now runs at 88% on average. The rate is expected to rise to 94% in the coming high season.
“We focus on the middle class, which is the fastest growing sector among tourists in Bangkok,” said Mr Wutthiphon.
Having eight hotels of different locations and characters will allow the group to capture customers in this sector to its entire spectrum, he said.
The number of travellers visiting Thailand continues to hit new highs.
In the first seven months this year, 20.4 million people travelled to the country, making an annual goal of 35 million vistiros very achievable, Mr Wutthipon said.