Phuket Business: Tune in, turn on, pass out
PHUKET: Complementing the recent opening of the Tune Hotel Asoke in Bangkok, Phuket is looking to welcome its own premium yet low-cost, frills-optional hotel, to open in Patong in December.
Owned and operated under a franchise agreement by Red Planet Hotels, the growing Tune brand presence in Thailand expands on existing branches in Haad Yai and Pattaya.
Tune Hotels is part of a lifestyle business conglomerate founded by Tony Fernandes which also includes the incredibly successful Air Asia group of companies.
Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Red Planet Hotels Limited, Mark Armsden, spoke to the Phuket Gazette about the upcoming hotel in Phuket.
Phuket Gazette: Where in Patong is the hotel being built?
Mark Armsden: The Tune Hotel Patong, Phuket, will open on the northern end of Patong’s Second Road, about 150 meters from Junceylon. Located on the roadside, the hotel affords easy access for guests.
How big will the hotel be?
The hotel will have 150 rooms and is being constructed on a 1,024 square meter site.
How much investment is going into the hotel?
We will invest close to US$10 million into this hotel.
What facilities will the hotel offer guests?
The Tune brand’s key selling points are that we offer a super-comfortable, five-star bed and a brilliant power shower at the best price in the market.
As a market leader in the low-cost hotel sector – just like our sister company Air Asia is in the low cost airline sector – we offer the hotel basics: a clean, safe and environmentally friendly room, and if you to want to use other facilities then we charge our guests a small fee.
If a guest chooses not to use extra services, then they do not pay and they save. The extras we charge a small fee for are: air conditioning, television, high speed WIFI and toiletries.
In most other hotels, guests pay for these services whether they use them or not.
What market are you aiming at in Phuket?
Like many other accommodation businesses on the island, we will be looking to people who come from countries with good air access to the island and who are searching for value for money.
Patong is a vibrant enclave with many people spending the day at the beach and then stepping out to the restaurants and bars at night, so an affordable hotel that provides a great night’s rest and a great shower in the morning is what they are looking for.
While not pointing out any country in particular, our market will be people who have grasped the low cost carrier concept and are happy to experience it in the hotel sector as well, along with guests who want to try something new and fun in the market.
Having said that, we are already getting many business travellers in our Bangkok hotel who travel on per diems and are looking to make savings on accommodation.
As I mentioned, Tune is breaking new ground globally by taking the low cost airline business model into the hotel sector.
— Andrew Scott
