Seen on ehotelier.com, Nov 27, 2007
Apart from being known for its nightlife, Soi Langsuan, in central Bangkok, is
also recognised as a supreme residential location, because of its serviced
apartments.
At this time of the year, those serviced apartments are preparing their four-
and five-star services for the festive New Year's season and an influx of
foreign visitors.
Located in the central business district, surrounded by shopping centres and
fine restaurants, near a Skytrain station and the green open spaces of Lumpini
Park, Soi Langsuan has no fewer than five blocks of serviced apartments. They
include Cape House Serviced Apartments; Natural Ville, managed by Accor; Fraser
Place Urbana Langsuan; Centre Point Langsuan; and Mayfair Marriott Bangkok
Executive Apartments. All of them are favoured by foreign executives and
diplomats.
Competition between established and recently opened serviced apartments at
the same quality level is these days honed down to uniqueness of building design
and the decor of common areas. Increasingly, it also depends on the interior
design of residential units and the quality of the service.
The most obvious competition is seen in the services provided to each
apartment.
Many of them take the services that may be expected at a modern serviced
apartment and add the personal indulgences more commonly found in upmarket
hotels. These include limousine services, daily cleaning, wake-up calls, in-room
safety-deposit boxes, postal services, catering services, convenience stores,
travel information, meeting facilities, saunas, massages, tennis courts and
children's playrooms.
Focusing on the Mayfair Marriott Bangkok Executive Apartments, the 26-storey
building contains 162 apartments. Managed by hotel experts from the Mariott
Group, the services range from those required of a serviced apartment to those
expected of a hotel. With a perfect location, the apartments receive very good
feedback from foreign business people and diplomats. The occupancy rate has
consistently increased from 75.6 per cent in 2004 to 81 per cent in 2005 and
82.2 per cent last year.
Rental fees range from Bt115,000 to Bt180,000 per month, with room rates per
day starting from Bt5,200.
Meanwhile, Fraser Place Urbana Langsuan has 129 apartments in a 36-storey
building housing 265 residential units. Services include a sauna, tennis and
basketball courts, a swimming pool, high-speed Internet and limousines - all
equal in quality to those at a five-star hotel but at cheaper rates.
Fraser has 40-48-square-metre studio apartments, 61-68-square-metre
one-bedroom executive apartments and 85-90-square-metre two-bedroom executive
units. Room rates per night range from Bt3,525 to Bt5,232, until the end of next
month.
Natural Ville managed by Accor features a 28-storey building containing 150
units on 1 rai of land. There are 16 studio units of 31 square metres, 12
one-bedroom units of 52 square metres, 48 one-bedroom units of 59 square metres,
64 one-bedroom units of 75 square metres, four one-bedroom units of 76 square
metres, four two-bedroom units of 100 square metres and two penthouse units of
146-square metres. Monthly rates range from Bt120,000 to Bt250,000.
"We must adjust ourselves to maintain our competitiveness amid competition
from so many others in the Langsuan, Rajdamri and Ploenchit areas," a source at
Cape House Serviced Apartments said. "Offering daily room service is one
solution."
Strong brand names certainly have an advantage in the current situation, in
which apartments are eager to serve both corporate customers who want to rent
rooms for high-ranking officers and individual foreigners wanting to stay for
anywhere between one night and two months, the source said.
Research by real-estate-services firm CB Richard Ellis also shows that
serviced apartments in Bangkok are competing in the same way as hotels, by
depending heavily on attracting guests with daily room services.
By the end of next month, Bangkok will have 10,000 serviced apartments, and
that number will increase to 12,000 units next year. Fierce competition between
serviced apartments is bringing them increasingly into direct competition with
the city's leading hotels, because like the hotels, they are now offering daily
room services.
Source:The
Nation Business