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Published on March 11, 2008

The firm is ready to co-invest or take over properties, said executive director Soammaphat Traisorat. It will also offer to manage hotels.

It has divided Imm into three sub-brands. The first, Imm Hotel, is primarily for city properties.

The Imm Fusion boutique hotel is for both Bangkok and provincial areas. Imm Eco sites are mainly for provincial destinations.

Imm offers room rates from about Bt1,000, targeting budget travellers.

The first two Imm properties are already operating in Chiang Mai and Sukhumvit 51, Bangkok.

The company plans to add budget hotels in Phuket, Krabi and Hua Hin.

It also plans to launch its latest luxury hotel called Asiatique Hotel by the Chao Phya River in Bangkok and another resort hotel in Thon Buri.

The group will convert a colonial-style building near the Oriental Hotel to be the Asiatique.

It will have 38 rooms. The cost of investment is not yet final and will have to take into account renovation costs.

It is expected to charge more than Bt10,000 a night.

Asiatique aims to compete on pricing with other luxury riverfront hotels.

The firm will also develop another luxury hotel on a 70-rai plot near Wat Prayakrai.

The site is now a warehouse.

"The two projects are set to open in two years," said Soammaphat.

TCC Land is also considering building a second Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, he said without providing details.

He said the firm had hired a recognised hotelier credited with the success of the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore to open this hotel.

Soammaphat said the firm was also building two luxury hotels in Samui.

One with 88 units will be managed Banyan Tree and the other, to be run by Luxury Collection Hotel.

The company is also developing a 400-room hotel on Surawong Road in Bangkok to open in 2010 and be managed by Marriott.

Another hotel, called Loft in Bangkok's Soi Pipat, off Silom Road, is scheduled to open in 12-14 months.

Meanwhile, it is developing a hotel near the Ratchayothin Intersection in Bangkok. The company is spending Bt400 million to 600 million on a 200-room property to be run by Holiday Inn when it opens in 2010.

Its other hotels scheduled to open this year include Le Meridien Bangkok and Le Meridien Chiang Mai.

The group now owns the Intercontinental Hotel in Singapore, the Westin in Kuala Lumpur, the Melia in Hanoi, and two Sakura Hotels in Kunming, China.

Soammaphat said the group would rebrand its existing Imperial Hotel and Resort chain, which had been in operation for many decades.

The firm now has all classes of hotels, he said, ranging from budget to luxury brands.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation