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