Hotels

  • Business NewsStrong interest of foreign investors in Phuket’s resorts – JLL report

    Strong interest of foreign investors in Phuket’s resorts – JLL report

    PHOTO: Dhawa Phuket “In the Asia Pacific, Phuket is one of the three hotel investment markets in the region that have been highlighted.” Buoyed by the rise of experience-driven travel and an affinity toward locally-inspired hotel offerings, resort assets remain a top target among investors. According to JLL Hotels & Hospitality’s Global Resort Report, resort sales accounted for 20% of…

  • Tourism NewsChiang Mai hotels face a quiet end to 2019

    Chiang Mai hotels face a quiet end to 2019

    PHOTO: Spice Roads Chiang Mai hotels are bracing for a quiet end to 2019, along with other Thai tourist hotspots, due to the strength of the baht, an over-supply of rooms and the growing popularity of home-sharing accommodations like Airbnb. Hoteliers in the northern city are also suffering the fall-out from the smoke haze crisis earlier in the year which…

  • Pattaya NewsHotel guest in Pattaya shocked as staff force her to wash stained towel

    Hotel guest in Pattaya shocked as staff force her to wash stained towel

    PHOTO: www.ให้ความรู้.com A hotel guest in Pattaya who left a make-up stain on one of the towels in her room has been forced to clean it by staff before they would return her deposit. Atchareeya Sotrapram took to social media to share her rather unusual story, saying hotel staff advised her that unless she washed the towel to remove the…

  • Business NewsCentara signs up three more Phuket hotels

    Centara signs up three more Phuket hotels

    The surge of new properties continues in Phuket as the developers and Thai business leaders continue to show their confidence in Phuket as an international holiday destination. Thai hospitality group Centara Hotels and Resorts has entered into agreements to manage three hotels on Phuket’s northern west coast in Mai Khao. Two of the properties are currently operating, which are the…

  • Technology NewsMore than four million guests stayed in an Airbnb on August 10, 2019

    More than four million guests stayed in an Airbnb on August 10, 2019

    “Airbnb has created an opportunity to meet people from all around the world.” – Pim, an Airbnb Host in Thailand Exactly 11 years since Airbnb was founded, the home-sharing hospitality company and ‘accommodation disrupters’ celebrated its biggest night ever, with more than 4 million people spending the night in an Airbnb listing on August 10, 2019. To date, there has…

  • Tourism NewsGreater Pattaya hosts hotel and tourism forum

    Greater Pattaya hosts hotel and tourism forum

    On Thursday, September 5 a hotel and tourism market update event covering Greater Pattaya will be held at the Holiday Inn Pattaya. Jointly organised by industry leaders STR, Horwath HTL, C9 Hotelworks and the AMCHAM Thailand, the event will feature key hospitality operating and performance metrics. A special panel on the emerging trend of hotel residences will include senior executives from…

  • PropertyAmnesty program for unlicensed Thai hotels finishes September 9

    Amnesty program for unlicensed Thai hotels finishes September 9

    PHOTO: We needed a photo of a small hotel. So this is The Small Hotel in Krabi (already licensed!!) The Thai government has issued guidelines for unlicensed hotels under their amnesty program. Hotels must submit applications and complete improvements before September 9, so time is of the essence. Baker McKenzie Thailand has outlined the process and guidelines which we are republishing…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket’s wake-up call. The hard work starts here.

    Phuket’s wake-up call. The hard work starts here.

    OPINION More hotels, a changing tourist mix, an exodus of expats and a decline in tourist numbers. Despite the new Tourism and Sports Minister pumping up the local tourism tyres during his visit last weekend, there’s a lot of hand-wringing and the sound of closing shop shutters around the tourist island of Phuket. To make things more complicated the situation…

  • Phuket NewsTop 5 things Phuket hotel developers should know

    Top 5 things Phuket hotel developers should know

    by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Taking a 2020 view of Phuket’s hotel development pipeline that has now surpassed 15,000 new keys it’s hard not to be apprehensive. From a macro standpoint, the destination’s airlift and location are key success factors. But for the myriad cast of new and inexperienced hotel developers out there, perhaps a visit down Alice’s rabbit hole…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket leads the way in managed hotel residences

    Phuket leads the way in managed hotel residences

    by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com – Feature article “Hotel Residences – properties that sell individual units in the real estate market and operate as either hotels or else are branded by hospitality operators. Other often used terms are condotel, hotel branded residences and hospitality-led real estate.” Phuket’s love affair with hotel managed properties started in the late 1980’s with the…

  • EventsPhuket fights for sustainable tourism at PHIST 2019

    Phuket fights for sustainable tourism at PHIST 2019

    Phuket readies to host PHIST 2019 in the fight against environmental degradation in Southeast Asia’s idyllic island destinations. PHIST (Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism) 2019 is a free-to-attend one-day conference that takes place on Thursday, September 23, 2019 at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. The important event will gather approximately 1,000 delegates, including more than 70 of…

  • Tourism NewsPhuket’s tourist evolution – Diversity is the best option Part 1

    Phuket’s tourist evolution – Diversity is the best option Part 1

    by Guest Writer Today’s guest writer has been managing resorts around Phuket for two decades and has represented his brand at international expos along with promotions for Phuket over the years. His knowledge is first-hand and steeped in local experience. He has asked to remain anonymous. At the end of the 1990’s into the early 2000’s Phuket saw the drastic…

  • Tourism NewsIs Airbnb taking over the Thai hotel industry?

    Is Airbnb taking over the Thai hotel industry?

    Airbnb is posing a less significant threat to hotels in Thailand than expected, but its influence in the longer term should not be underestimated, according to real estate company JLL Offering new alternatives to travellers, Airbnb is certainly taking some of the wind out of the sails of the traditional hotel accommodation model. However, findings from Jone Lang Lasalle (JLL) shows…

  • Hua Hin NewsRegister your hotel within 30 days – Hua Hin unlicensed premises warned

    Register your hotel within 30 days – Hua Hin unlicensed premises warned

    FILE PHOTO 170 illegal hotel and resort operators in Hua Hin have been warned to register and obtain Hotel licences within a month or they will face jail or a fine. The Hua Hin district chief, Thanon Phanpipas, says the operators of unlicensed hotels and resorts must register within a month from May 16 or they would face a maximum…

  • World NewsNow you can ‘Grab’ a hotel as well

    Now you can ‘Grab’ a hotel as well

    If you’ve used Grab you’ll realise what a big announcement this is. It immerses yet another service within their intuitive App. Grab, already a leading App in Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its ‘Hotels’ booking service. The company says customers will now be able to book hotels and other accommodation from Agoda and soon, Booking.com directly from their Grab…

  • Tourism NewsChinese travellers heading to more non-Asian countries for holidays

    Chinese travellers heading to more non-Asian countries for holidays

    More Chinese are now travelling further and taking in non-Asian destinations during this week’s Labour Day holidays, according to Hotelbeds, a leading hotel booking website. Monitoring holiday bookings made by Chinese, Hotelbeds said 10 to the top 30 destinations were outside of Asia compared with just three destinations a year earlier. The three day Labour Day holidays, starting on May…

  • World NewsSri Lanka attacks ‘retaliation for Christchurch’ – Government minister

    Sri Lanka attacks ‘retaliation for Christchurch’ – Government minister

    The Islamist suicide bombings that killed 321 people, and injured many others in Sri Lanka at the weekend, are believed to have been carried out in revenge for last month’s attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifty people were shot dead on March 15 at two mosques in the South Island, New Zealand city by an avowed white…

  • Business NewsPhuket hotel watch – trends in 2019

    Phuket hotel watch – trends in 2019

    by Bill Barnett of C9Hotelworks.com At the beginning of the year Phuket’s tourism and hotel sector was cautiously optimistic after a strong first half of 2018 and humbling second half. Key terms that kept popping up were Mainland Chinese, Thai Baht Appreciation, Elections and Supply Concerns. So today, with five months of performance under the belt in 2019 what are…

  • Business NewsStrong baht a concern for Thai hotel sector

    Strong baht a concern for Thai hotel sector

    by Bill Barnett Thailand’s baht performance against Asian currencies in 2018, was unmatched, with the exception of the Japanese yen. Commenting on the trend financial news Bloomberg have highlighted that in 2019, a further 4% in growth this year have it sitting at the top of the table. Oddly, one of the underlying factors stimulating the baht’s appreciation is the…

  • Bangkok NewsReflections #2 – Thailand Tourism Forum – ‘Chindia Tourism’

    Reflections #2 – Thailand Tourism Forum – ‘Chindia Tourism’

    ‘CHINDIAN’ Tourists – Same Same or Different? by Wimintra Raj – hotelintel.co If you’re running a hotel or any business related to the local tourism industry in Thailand, this is an article you need to read, then read again. It was just one of the many presentations at the annual Thailand Tourism Forum held in Bangkok recently. “For the third…

  • Chiang Mai NewsChiang Mai official says the hotel sell-off is “because there were too many tourists”

    Chiang Mai official says the hotel sell-off is “because there were too many tourists”

    PHOTO: This hotel is not for sale! Manager Online is claiming that a senior tourism official in Chiang Mai says the reason people want to sell hotels in the northern city is not because there are so few Chinese tourists now. It is because there are so many. Chiang Mai’s former tourism industry chief Pornchai Jitranawasathian, who now runs the…