Renovation of Minor's flagship hotel to be completed this month

It was operated 19 years ago under the Royal Garden Riverside brand. Later it joined the Marriott Hotels and Resorts chain and has since been managed as the Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa.
However, Minor Group decided in late 2010 not to extend the franchising agreement with Marriott and the arrangement will end this month.
Francis Zimmerman, hotel general manager, said the hotel will be rebranded as Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort and Spa after the renovation work is completed.
The hotel is spending Bt300 million to refurbish its south wing and is reducing the number of rooms from 183 to 175. It will have 10 new suites. It is also upgrading two restaurants as well as the fitness club.
“The hotel has seen very limited expansion in the past, but now we can do a lot more,” he said.
Philip Bryson, Marriott’s area vice president for Southeast Asia, said the group remains open to the possibility of running more hotels in the country, saying that losing the Minor hotel was not a problem.
“We lose one hotel but we still have to open many other properties,” he added.
Zimmerman said the hotel would be the third Anantara in the capital after Anantara Baan Rajprasong and Anantara Bangkok Sathon.
“We will increase the room rate this peak season by Bt500-Bt1,000 above the current average rate of Bt4,000.”
He said the hotel is working on additional renovations in a phased way, including the main and north wings, and is expected to finalise the blueprint and expenditure budget within next year.
From January to October, the hotel had 64-65 per cent average occupancy rate. It hopes the occupancy will increase by 5-8 per cent in November and December and will go up another 5 per cent in January and February next year due to the high season for international guests.
Its major market is leisure tourists with about 55 per cent of total guests coming from Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. The meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition segment is growing significantly.
“The hotel business in Bangkok has been positive in this last quarter and we are happy to have many competitors located along the river. However, stability is of the most concern,” said Zimmerman.
The economic problems in Europe and the US have not had much of an impact on the hotel this year compared to the last few years when unrest in the country hit the entire tourism industry. The hotel, however, plans to increase visitors from emerging markets such as Russia, China, Hong Kong and India.