The refurbishment will cover three main areas: technology, rooms and bedding. This will be Marriott International's first Asian property to renovate using the new "Room of the Future" concept.

General manager Peter Caprez said the rooms would come with a Remote Jack Pack, a new technology that was designed by Clipsal Hong Kong. It will allow guests to connect their portable electronic devices - laptops, digital cameras, PlayStations/Xboxes, Ipods/MP3 players - to new 32-inch LCD flat-screen television sets.

All 398 rooms will be made over with classic and contemporary designs, including rich-wood wall panelling, new furnishings and bedding and the addition of modern rain showers in each bathroom. "The renovation is scheduled for completion by mid-2007," said Caprez.

He added that the hotel was also switching to Revive Beds, featuring down comforters nestled inside sheeted duvets that replace the traditional bedspread. White bed linen with a thread count of 300 raises the bedding benchmark for quality, he said.

Meg Evans, director of marketing at the JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok, JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa and Renaissance Koh Samui Resort and Spa, said the group planned to open another hotel in Bangkok next April - Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok - with 316 rooms.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation