Centara Hotels and Resorts (CHR) has invested 1.4 billion baht to revamp Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya to capture premium guests and families, as it wants to expand water park-themed hotels labelled "Mirage" to new destinations.
Jurairat Mongkolwongsiri, vice-president of sales at CHR, said Pattaya's tourism image has shifted to a family-oriented destination over the past two decades, with Centara the first in the area to introduce a themed hotel in 2009.
Under the "Lost World" concept, the 19-storey Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya features 555 rooms and suites. All rooms offer sea views, sized from 42 square metres to 326 sq m.
In addition to a water park, the resort features an adventure park, spa, tennis court, restaurants and club lounge on a 43-rai plot next to Wong Amat beach.
Mrs Jurairat said the renovation should enable a 15-20% room rate hike, rising to between 6,000 baht and over 10,000 baht per night. The occupancy rate is projected to increase to 90-100% during holidays and weekends, averaging 80% for the rest of the year.
She said 80% of guests are leisure travellers, with many repeat visitors.
Chaiphun Thongsuthum, the hotel's general manager, said it also targets business groups looking for team building and meetings, as the property can accommodate several events at its meeting spaces as well as on the beach.
Mr Chaiphun said the hotel has a new multilingual team to hold activities every day for guests and their kids.
In the next few months, he said it plans to transform some of the suite rooms to waiting spaces for check-in to accommodate premium guests who arrive early.
Regarding Pattaya's growth, Mrs Jurairat said the city can offer various events for visitors of all ages, such as sports, music and fireworks.
She acknowledged there is a glut of three- and four-star hotels that compete on price as room supply in this segment has increased by 20-30% from 2019.
Centara can still compete based on its unique services and ability to adapt, said Mrs Jurairat.
She said other challenges for hotels include rising labour and energy costs, prompting hoteliers to manage costs more effectively, including requiring employees to do multiple tasks and adopting solar cells to save on energy expenses.
While the main guest markets include Japanese expatriates and tourists from Russia, China, South Korea, India and Europe, the hotel is aiming for new potential markets such as the Middle East, said Mrs Jurairat.
In Pattaya, Centara operates five hotels, with two owned properties and three under management.
The company operates four themed hotels under the Mirage label in Thailand and abroad, including the latest one in Maldives, and there are more opportunities in the Middle East, she said.
Mrs Jurairat said the group is looking to expand other brands such as Centara Reserve based on its robust performance in Koh Samui, rebranding its Centara Grand in Krabi to Centara Reserve in the future.