Located on Sri Ayutthaya-Rangnam Road in Bangkok, the hotel is part of the King Power Complex, which has duty-free shops, a restaurant and a theatre.

King Power International Group, which operates the duty-free area and commercial space at Suvarnabhumi Airport, has invested more than Bt2 billion in the downtown complex.

General manager Christophe Vielle said the hotel would feature 387 rooms, five restaurants, a spa and a 400-seat meeting hall.

Novotel, the four-star management arm of hotel group Accor, will manage the property for 10 years.

"It is probably the country's first hotel connecting directly to duty-free shops so that they can synergise with each other," said Vielle.

With its central location, the hotel aims at international tourists and expects Asian shoppers to be 70 per cent of bookings. "Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and China will be our main targets for the hotel," said Vielle.

Fifty per cent of the guests will be business travellers.

The hotel will face tough competition because many hotels are scheduled to open at the same time. "Where we differ from others is our location and the combination of duty-free shopping and hotel. It is similar to the casino-hotel complexes overseas. We believe we will achieve an average occupancy rate of 67 per cent in the first year," he added.

Vielle is confident in King Power, despite criticism it has received for its Thai duty-free operations.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation