Hotel and office developer UHG plans to invest 3.1 billion baht to develop two new hotels in the Ramkhamhaeng and Phaya Thai areas to capitalise on the potential of these locations and meet high demand from its hotels nearby.
Managing director Wutthiphon Taworntawat said the locations of the new projects hold potential, with Ramkhamhaeng benefiting from the completed Orange Line and Phaya Thai re-emerging as a prime area.
"The Orange Line, with its main sections along Ramkhamhaeng Road, will start running soon," he said.
"The Phaya Thai area has a lot of new development projects, mostly luxury ones, completed in the past few years, with many more in the pipeline."
Earlier this year, UHG rented a one-rai plot on Phaya Thai Road near Baan Pathumwan Condominium.
With an investment of 600 million baht, the company plans to develop an eight-storey hotel with 200 rooms in the mid-tier segment as other nearby hotels cater to the upper-end segment.
The hotel is designed to have a coffee shop on the ground floor that will transform into a bar at night, given the location's popularity for nightlife. Construction starts next year and should be completed in 2026, said Mr Wutthiphon.
"This hotel can accommodate guests who may be overbooked at our nearby hotels, including The Quarter Ratchathewi, 300 metres away, and Evergreen Place Siam, just one station away," he said.
The eight-storey Quarter Ratchathewi has 99 rooms at a rate of around 2,500 baht per night, with its opening scheduled for Oct 24, 2023.
Evergreen Place Siam, located near the Ratchathewi skytrain station, has 161 rooms and is often fully booked during events such as concerts at Siam Paragon, said Mr Wutthiphon.
"The new hotel on Ramkhamhaeng Road can accommodate guests from The Quarter Ladprao, which has 194 rooms," he said.
In addition to a hotel with 338 rooms, the project located on Ramkhamhaeng Soi 19 will have rental office spaces with a lettable area of 10,000 square metres and a retail area of 1,500 sq m, said Mr Wutthiphon. The investment totals 2.5 billion baht.
Last month, UHG opened a 20-storey office tower with a lettable area of 10,000 sq m at Sukhumvit Hills, a mixed-use project near the Bang Chak skytrain station. It also features a seven-storey hotel with 90 rooms that opened last year.
"The hotel had an occupancy rate of 90%," he said.
"There has been no impact from the Siam Paragon shooting so far."