Peperoni will be born from the ashes of The Pizzeria, Bangkok’s oldest pizza restaurant, which has served diners for 30 years.

The Pizzeria, which was launched in 1968 and spawned the Narai Pizzeria chain, will soon be known as Peperoni the Italian restaurant.

The Pizzeria's overhaul was spurred by the sale of the Narai Pizzeria chain, including the brand name and recipes, to the J Press Group in 2002. The sales contract mandated that the original pizzeria change its name and culinary bent. The J Press Group runs 16 Narai Pizzerias in prime locations around Bangkok and recently introduced home delivery of Italian food.

The Bt12-million renovation, which includes adding an outdoor terrace, will begin next month, when the restaurant will close, then reopen in September in its new incarnation.

Narai Hotel Co Ltd managing director Pichet Nithivasin said he hoped Peperoni would be able to attract bigger spenders willing to part with Bt230 to Bt350 a person. "We'll modernise our three-star hotel to cope with tougher competition, particularly in the Rama I and Sukhumvit areas, where there are more than 10 hotels," said Pichet. "This year's renovation, which will focus on guestrooms, will modernise the Narai Hotel and move it very close to the four-star level."

The renovation of the 12-floor, 469-room hotel will be conducted gradually floor by floor. Pichet said the upgrades were in response to changing demand by guests, of whom about 70 per cent come from Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. More than Bt40 million will be spent this year on renovations.

Pichet said the 38-year-old Narai Hotel would differentiate itself from its nearby sister hotel, The Triple Two, a four-star 75-room hotel that mostly serves business travellers. The Narai Hotel itself will target visitors coming to Thailand for leisure.

"Along with the renovation, we raised the room price for our the Narai Hotel 10 per cent last November. The current room price is now Bt2,200 per night for a standard room and up to Bt7,000 for the Narai Suite," said Pichet. He added that the hotel ran at 88-per-cent occupancy in the first quarter. The average occupancy throughout the year is about 77 per cent, thanks to its prime location in one of the business centres of Bangkok and its strong base of returning visitors.

The Narai Hotel owns a 120-rai plot of land in Pran Buri district of Prachuap Khiri Khan that the company hopes eventually to develop into a resort hotel complex, at a cost of Bt400 million to Bt1 billion. The hotel, however, has no immediate plans to invest in the Pran Buri project, which will yield returns only in the long term.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation