Singapore-based Banyan Tree luxury hotels group has decided to reduce its dependence on Thai investments, selling its Phuket resort to an undisclosed bidder. The company is one of several in Thailand’s high-end travel industry, and its reversal of a previous ‘expansion first’ policy is great news for other operators in the country’s highly competitive luxury travel sector.
Given that the company’s Bangkok hotels are intact, competition remains fierce in the Thai capital of over twelve million. The city boasts numerous high-end hotels, particularly those with presences in Thailand only. The celebrated Lebua Hotel chain operates exclusively in Thailand and southern New Zealand, offering visitors a taste of cultural luxury within the Thai capital.
That luxury, however, comes with a price. Rooms at the hotel start from £170 – an alarming rate in a country where most struggle to earn £600 monthly. The hotel backs out onto Bangkok’s riverfront shopping and restaurant area, offering visitors a combination of convenience, culture, and the city’s celebrated street side cuisine.
Lebua’s top competition comes from one of the Banyan Tree Group’s own hotels – their own Westin Banyan Tree on Sathorn Road. Famed for its rooftop restaurant and view-focused shape, the hotel is one of several in Bangkok offering open air dining to guests and outside patrons. Prices begin from approximately £130, with the hotel’s well-known international suites priced upwards of £1200.
With the country’s tourism in a state of uncertainty, however, many of the listed prices for high-end hotels within Bangkok are negotiable. Aggregate travel websites such as Agoda have several of the city’s top hotels listed with rooms discounted almost seventy percent, while a number of the largest hotels in Bangkok offer even greater walk-in discounts. Our advice: compare, call, and negotiate.
