Centara pours in Bt100m on spa expansion

Centara Hotels and Resorts is spending more than Bt100 million on upgrading and expanding its Cenvaree Spa chain, bringing the total to 11 locations throughout the country by July.

"In 2007, spas alone generated revenue of Bt80 million and the group projects revenue at Bt96 million this year," president Gerd Steeb said yesterday.

About Bt20 million would go to refurbishing Spa Cenvaree at the Centara Grand Beach Resort Samui and Bt20 million to creating another rainforest spa at the Centara Villas Samui, due to reopen in July.

Spa Cenvaree at Centara Karon Resort Phuket is undergoing total renovation, with emphasis on a rainforest theme and design elements to reflect its cultural heritage. All treatment rooms will be upgraded with rich shades of colours, reflecting the beauty of the wild flowers on the island.

Spa Cenvaree, the group's newest addition at a cost of Bt45 million, which is opening next month at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld in Bangkok, is the flagship outlet with 15 stylish treatment rooms.

It features ultra-contemporary Thai interiors reflecting the hotel's design concept based on the four elements of Earth, Fire, Wind and Water.

The Centara Chaan Talay Resort and Villas Trat, launched in March, houses its Spa Cenvaree in a cluster of thatched-roof treatment pavilions set amid the lush jungle. The spa complex contains three private-couple pavilions, a meditation hall for mental exercises and an open-air beach sala.

Spa Cenvaree was established in 2000 by Centara Hotels and Resorts with the philosophy of three pillars of wellbeing - Body, Energy and Soul.

Spa Cenvaree will also expand into key emerging markets overseas. It is negotiating to manage a spa at Furama Hotel in Danang in the middle of Vietnam and is also talking with hotel operators in the Middle East and China to manage spas there.

The group plans to manage new hotels in many cities throughout Thailand, including Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Pattaya. It will run three serviced apartments in Bangkok - one on Rajprasong Road and two on Sukhumvit Road. And it will operate two hotels in Phuket, one on Karon Beach and the other on Bangtao Beach near Laguna.