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The Miramar Hotel was the first hotel to be established in Bangkok's Charoen Krung area over 40 years ago. Over a short space of time, it developed a solid reputation for providing quality accommodation to both tourists and businesspeople.
The hotel managed to expand significantly since those early days, although more and more small- and medium-sized hotels have cropped up, providing a generally more competitive playing field.
While the hotel still utilizes the original building, the interior and exterior have undergone a major renovation recently, giving the property a more modern feel. Onjira Santivarakon, a leading executive at the Miramar Hotel and a third generation member of the founding family, was responsible for initiating the restoration work.
A new beginning
Onjira explains that the restoration project was driven by necessity since the facilities began to seem rather dated, while requiring costly maintenance on a regular basis. Moreover, the hotel needed to work towards expanding its market and differentiate itself from rival properties in its vicinity.
“The Miramar was once the single choice in Charoen Krung when it came to accommodation, but nowadays there is a large number of guest houses, boutique hotels and medium-size hotels in the area,” Onjira says. “If we don’t develop the property, people would quickly consider us to be ‘just an old hotel’ and we wouldn’t be able to compete with these newcomers.”
Before deciding to try and breathe some new life into the family business, Onjira earned her spurs by gaining over 10 years’ experience in numerous renowned hotel groups. Location, location, location
“In rebranding the hotel, I decided to make use of our existing strong points, such as the fact that we are long established, and that we are handily located near several interesting tourist destinations, including the Giant Swing, Golden Mount, Khao San Road, and other popular locations within Rattanakosin Island,” Onjira says. “While most of the accommodation in the area is in the budget segment, they aren’t recognized for their cleanliness or safety standards. In light of this fact, the Miramar has chosen to position itself somewhere between a guest house and a five-star hotel.”
Such factors, according to Onjira, would likely attract visitors who initially book into accommodation located in the Silom or Sukhumvit areas.
Maintaining and raising standards
During the period 2006-2008, about 100 million baht (US$2.85 million) was spent on the hotel’s internal and external renovations. This resulted in the improvement of several systems within the hotel, including electrical, security alarm systems, along with the water supply, all of which are fully compliant with international standards.
During the first and second phases of
the renovation work, various areas of the hotel were closed, allowing
other parts of the hotel to operate. However, during the third and
final phase, which took about nine months in total to compete, the
whole hotel was closed. During this time, staff underwent some
comprehensive training in order to raise the hotel’s service levels.
The number of guest rooms was expanded marginally (from 122 to 128
rooms), while the function and training room and restaurant underwent a
complete transformation. To account for the wholesale changes, the
hotel raised its prices by about 30-40% from about 800 baht to 1,400
baht per night.
“Although the rates are higher, I think we’ll be able to appeal to
wealthier customers, while still catering to our regular customers, who
are happy to pay a bit more for better service,” she says. “We also
renovated the restaurant and function and training room so government
organizations and private companies can organize training sessions or
seminars at the Miramar.” On completion of the grand renovation,
the Miramar will become the only hotel in the area with such modern
facilities. It originally expected to see a return on investment within
five years, although the recent political unrest means it will now take
between five and eight years. Over 700 guests canceled reservations
during the first few months of this year, forcing the hotel to switch
its focus from foreign to domestic tourists. “Before the political conflict, we
expected reservations from both foreign and local visitors, but now we
have to place greater priority on the domestic market. As well as
organizing campaigns and promotions, we also need to get rid of
unnecessary costs,” Onjira says. “I have to admit that we’re facing a
difficult time at present. We have about 40% occupancy now, compared
with 70% during the same period last year.”
Onjira says that although the political situation had brought about
numerous problems, she would do her best to ensure the business
survives this difficult period, while hoping that all the
uncontrollable factors will soon fade away. - Translated into English and republished with the kind permission of ASTV Manager Online.
For further information, contact Tel:+66 (0)2 222 4191, or visit the hotel’s website at http://www.miramarbangkok.com .
Biz Spotlight 
Biz Spotlight
Thailand offers plenty of business and investment opportunities. Whether you’re an entrepreneurial individual, a growing small- and medium enterprise, or a cash-rich corporation looking to establish or expand your presence in the kingdom, Biz Spotlight provides up-to-date insights into the country’s business and financial sectors.
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