Hyatt Regency Hua Hin banking on new services

Christian Wurm, general manager of the hotel, said more services were planned for guests during the remainder of the year.
The first is a pet-friendly concept, under which the hotel will offer five rooms specifically for guests with cats and dogs. The new service is expected to be available in the final quarter.
“We did some research and found that some guests needed rooms for small animals like cats and dogs, so we will offer this option for them. A few other hotels in Hua Hin have already added this service to cater to the trend,” he said. On December 1, the hotel is scheduled to open an expanded shop, Resort Boutique, which is located in its main lobby.
The enlarged store will have special amenities, along with beauty and wellness products.
 Wurm added that the hotel also planned to focus more on families and the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) market in the coming year.
“For the MICE segment, we will invite event planners to visit the hotel with a view to our hosting small and medium-size events.
This is expected to fill rooms during the off season, and also on weekdays,” he explained.
The families market, meanwhile, will be encouraged through new activities such as classes in local music, drawing and painting, and creative activities at the hotel’s kids’ club.
The hotel last month turned its Talay Thai Restaurant into a more casual dining environment, in an attempt to get more customers to eat in rather than use other restaurants in the town.
It has also developed its digital services, offering guests a device on which an application features all room-service options, food and beverage facilities and prices at the hotel, the general manager said.
At The Barai, a water-yoga service is set to be added to the wellness package next year, following the recent multi-million-baht purchase of a body check-up machine.
Moreover, the hotel has recently hired a Chinese-speaking staff member to assist guests from the rapidly emerging mainland China market.
The hotel is confident it can secure new customers and maintain repeat visitors during this year’s high season, Wurm stressed, adding that it hoped to operate at an average occupancy rate for the period at the same level as last year, 92 per cent, judging from current advance bookings from core markets.
“We have made moves to cope with the high season since experiencing the cancellation of 1,000 room-nights booked for the next six months after the bomb blasts in Hua Hin in August,” the GM said.
 To restore tourism, stakeholders in Hua Hin are promoting the area as a wellness and golf destination, as well featuring many theme parks, in an effort to bring in many more Thai and foreign visitors.
The clientele at the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin and The Barai is split 50:50 between local and foreign guests, with overseas visitors mostly coming from Germany, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Singapore and Hong Kong, he said.
The number of visitors from mainland China is also showing significant growth, he added.