The Amari Orchid Hotel Pattaya is spending Bt1 billion on a new tower block and convention hall that it says will be the first "sexy hotel" in the city resort. It is scheduled to open next June.

General manager Dominik Stamm said the development would be adjacent to the Amari Orchid Hotel in North Pattaya. The 20-storey tower will be built to five-star standards, featuring 297 rooms, four or five meeting rooms and a swimming pool.

It will also house a branch of Amari's in-house Sivara Spa, building on the existing network that includes Koh Chang, Koh Samui, Phuket, Trang and Bangkok's Amari Watergate Hotel.

The new tower will be named Ocean Tower and stand apart from the hotel's existing low-rise Garden Wing.

Seventy per cent of the rooms in the tower will be "sexy rooms", meaning they will have an open bathroom.

"We are the first hotel to dare to provide rooms without bathroom doors," Stamm said. "It is a part of our strategy to be different from all of the others."

A convention hall to seat 400 will be built alongside the tower and also open next June. It will be convertible to accommodate events or conferences.

With its new additions, the Amari Orchid Pattaya plans to attract more honeymoon couples, meetings and conference guests, as well as up-market tourists, both local and foreign.

It is the Amari chain's biggest investment in 33 years of operating in Thailand. The hotels were taken over by the giant construction firm Italian Thai several years ago, and over the past three years, the company has injected Bt400 million into renovations at the Pattaya hotel, including refurbishing all the rooms, the lobby and the coffee shop.

Moreover, Bt100 million was spent on the Mantra Restaurant and Bar, close to the hotel, which has now been operating for six months. It offers various cuisines from around the world. The hotel also houses Henry J Bean's Bar and Grill.

Stamm said the hotel business in Pattaya was growing in line with the number of tourist arrivals.

"Pattaya is also getting more players. Many five-star hotels have already started business, while a few more are under de-velopment," said Stamm.

Local investors have also launched tourist attractions, such as the Alangkarn Theatre, Underwater World and the Pattaya Dragon entertainment complex.

Stamm said the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport was the main driving force for the tourism industry, not only in Pattaya, but also in Bangkok and other major destinations. Despite this, hotels are facing tough competition, and the Amari management in Pattaya is building up its team and strategies to compete.

"We've also rebranded our properties from 'resort hotel' to 'resort and tower hotel', which means more and bigger facilities," he said.

The Amari Orchid Pattaya has a current occupancy rate of 81 per cent, which is 2 per cent lower from this time last year, due to fewer meetings. 

Suchat Sritama

The Nation

Pattaya