Accor to manage two hotels in Pattaya

Accor today announced two new management contracts for hotels in Pattaya.

The low-rise Novotel Garden Cliff Resort will offer guests 234 rooms positioned on prime beachfront property in north Pattaya near Palm Beach and Thailand’s largest hand-carved wooden temple, Wat Boran.

The resort will have a 350sqm ballroom and two 60sqm meeting rooms for hosting corporate meetings and incentives. Two restaurants, a coffee shop and speciality restaurant, will face the beach surrounded by two split-level swimming pools. Scheduled to open in September 2004, Novotel Garden Cliff Resort Pattaya also plans to have one of the finest spa and fitness centres in Pattaya.

The 253-room Mercure Pattaya is located between Second and Third Roads in south Pattaya close to the city’s prime dining and entertainment areas. The hotel features a modern urban-resort design and it will have an all day dining restaurant, bar and swimming pool when it opens in January 2005.

Managing Director Asia Pacific, Michael Issenberg, said the time was right for Accor to expand its growing Thailand hotel network to Pattaya.

“It has grown up as a leisure destination, offering some of Thailand’s finest golf courses, attractions and tour options. These two hotels will appeal to different market segments. Novotel Garden Cliff Resort is in a quiet corner near Naklua Bay away from Pattaya’s entertainment areas, while Mercure Pattaya is in the heart of the city near south Pattaya.”

According to Mr Issenberg, infrastructure developments by the Royal Thai Government were starting to change the perception of Pattaya as a holiday destination.

“Change is everywhere. The water quality in central to south Pattaya is better since the new sewage treatment plants came on line several years back. Transportation has improved both for road transfers from Bangkok or from U-Tapao Airport on the way to Rayong.

“U-Tapao has received a larger number of direct flights from Asia and Europe recently, helping to drive tourism growth to Pattaya. The Thai government remains committed to developing the airport as a second hub to the new Bangkok International Airport.”

During 2002 U-Tapao International Airport handled over 3,200 scheduled flights and that number is set to increase as visitor arrivals to Pattaya grow. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, over 2.87 million foreign tourists and 1.3 million Thais visited Pattaya in 2002 with the average length of stay three days.