Stories tagged with resorts
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Phuket resort wins best in southern Thai
The 7th annual Thailand Tourism Awards for 2008 has awarded the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket as the best hotel in southern Thailand. The Thailand Authority of Tourism (TAT) presents the awards each year to honor the best businesses in Thailand’s tourism industry.
The criteria used by the TAT judges includes level of service, corporate social responsibility, self-sufficiency, an attempt to preserve the natural environment and a desire to sustain local culture and art. Peter Komposch, General Manager of Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, was on hand to accept the award from the Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports.
“We not only do our best to maintain our unique five-star standard of services but also better our rooms and facilities, as well as our people, with a view to giving a refreshing experience for all guests, no matter what their journey,” Komposch said. “We also take environmental issues seriously. We have a very active Green Leaf Committee, that achieved for us a number of honorable environmental related awards.”
Dusit International is part of a utopian resort dream envisioned by King Rama VI in the early 1900s, which he termed Dusit Thani. Phuket FantaSea in Kamala took first in the list of six outstanding tourist attractions, and Phuket Sealand won the award for excellence in the inbound tour category.
Posted by: Andrew on 19 Oct 2008, 08:02 -
Beaches set to hit Thailand
A new beach resort development is scheduled to being work in Thailand with the major label, the Beaches, ready to open it’s first Thai resort in Bang Saray Bay in three and a half years.
The Beaches resort will offer discerning travelers a water-themed park, private beaches and a boardwalk stretching out over a kilometer past restaurants and shops. The resort will have villas positioned over the water, similar in style to villas in the Maldives.
Every villa in the resort will have access to high speed internet and a cashless payment system.
Chairman and CEO of Pacific Shore Company, Liakat Sultan Dhanji, has been responsible for making the brand a success in Thailand. According to him, Thailand needs something distinctive if it is going to stand out against the stiff competition developing in the region.
"I decided I was going to find space and build an integrated destination resort to compete with our neighboring countries. My strength is big projects, complexity doesn't bother me and big destination resorts are extremely complex," Dhanji said.
Bang Saray is a fishing village located close to the popular resort city of Pattaya. "One day I happened to go to Bang Saray because somebody had invited me there and I said, 'Oh my God, it reminds me of Waikiki (in Hawaii) 32 years ago when my father took me there', and I said, 'Wow, this is right on my doorstep," said Dhanji.
Posted by: Jen on 03 Dec 2007, 10:17 -
Upscale luxury residences planned on Koh Samui
Plans were recently unveiled for a new upscale resort on Koh Samui. Hillcrest Residences (Samui) will be building a new, ultra-exclusive Conrad Koh Samui Residences on the island to take advantage of a growing trend in high-end luxury holiday homes.
The new resort will be located on a hill with views looking out over Phang Ka Beach on the southwestern coast of the island. The company will be building 32 pool villas in the middle of a coconut plantation.
The villas should be ready for business in 2009, making the Conrad Koh Samui Residences one of the first brand name luxury properties for sale in the area.
Lyon Lau, the managing director for Hillcrest Residences said: “Hillcrest is delighted to announce the launch of Conrad Koh Samui Residences. This new development introduces to Koh Samui the whole notion of branded residence concept offering truly luxurious and memorable getaways for today’s discerning and market savvy home buyers.?
Each villa will have either two or three bedrooms and a beautiful view out over the Gulf of Thailand. In addition, the property comes with at least 300 square meters of outdoor space, a private pool and a large outdoor sun deck.
The Residences will offer residents access to restaurants and recreational facilities including a spa offering both international treatments and local practitioners.
Koh Samui was once a quiet backpackers haven but is growing into a regional hot spot. With a new terminal recently opened at the Koh Samui airport and more international flights expected in the future, the region is a perfect place to invest. Last year 1.1 million visitors enjoyed the sand and sun on Koh Samui.
Posted by: Jen on 26 Sep 2007, 10:33 -
Sofitel Khon Kaen’s Spa Package
The Sofitel Raja Orchid in Khon Kaen, northeastern Thailand is offering a special for couples combining luxurious accommodation with indulgent treatments in their attached spa. The package costs 15,700 baht for two nights accommodation in the Sofitel, breakfast and four hours of spa treatment.
Cozy Le Spa has been described as “a delightful oasis of tranquility.? Staff at Le Spa certainly pays attention to detail, something which is clearly evident in the décor, a beautiful blend of eastern and western traditions.
The four hour spa treatment offered with this package begins with an aromatic steam bath. Another bath follows, this one prepared with pure essential oils and flowers. After muscles have been relaxed and loosened in the warm waters of the floral bath, participants will be treated to a trademark LeSpa relaxation massage. Finally women will receive a Decleor aroma essential facial including oil from Neroli flower buds while their male partners are treated to a Decleor aroma energizing facial.
All of the staff at LeSpa have participating in an extensive training program and as a result, deliver a high level of service to all guests. LeSpa delivers local treatments from northeastern Thai culture with European sophistication. Massage techniques, for example, are taken from Isan culture, while the Decleor products used in the facial treatments were developed in France.
The facilities at the Sofitel are brand new and are located in the heart of the business district in Khon Kaen. The fastest way to get to Khon Kaen is to fly. Air Asia offers low cost flights into the northern city on a regular basis.
Posted by: Jen on 12 Sep 2007, 03:39 -
Unique style displayed at Fondcome Village Resort
The 50-room Fondcome Village Resort is located in the Hang Dong district of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Everything from the architecture, to the decoration and the dinners are done in local style.
Each of the rooms is distinct and has its own charm. One room is built like a cavern under a lychee tree, in the style of the Mlabri tribe. Another room shows the lifestyle of the people in Xishauangbanna, a group of farmers who once cultivated fields on the banks of the Mekong. In one room, the roof can be removed to enjoy natural lighting during the day or to stargaze in bed at night.
The resort’s staff members are dressed in traditional northern styles and many speak local dialects.
The food is delicious and served with style. The head chef is also a cooking instructor and knows how to blend Western recipes with traditional northern Thai ingredients and flavors. The “yam kai phra-in? comes highly recommended. It is a spicy chicken soup distinctive to Chiang Mai.
The resort offers pick up at the airport where a number of flights from Bangkok arrive daily, as do several direct international services. The hotel is a 15 minute drive from the airport on Namphrae Road. The Night Safari is nearby.
Room rates start at 3,500 baht a night for a standard room and suites are also available for 25,000 baht a night.
Posted by: Jen on 22 Aug 2007, 11:43 -
New Resort Builds on Local Knowledge
A handful of environmentally conscious developers recently landed on the little known island of Koh Yao Noi, in the Phang Nga Bay in the south of Thailand. The island is often overlooked by tourists and remains blissfully untouched by some of the commercialism infecting other sun-swept locations in the area. If the new developers have things there way, that shouldn’t change in the future.
One of the reasons for the pristine nature of the island is that a large part of it has been, until recently, under the private ownership of social anthropologist and former French Consul, Jean Boulbe. A chance meeting between Boulbe at the French Consulate in Bangkok and Markus A. Frey, a Swiss banker changed things for the island’s future in a rather dramatic fashion.
Boulbe’s friend, Georges Cortez, an architect with extensive knowledge of culture and vegetation in South East Asia, joined the team and the three men began building a dream together. That dream is almost ready to come true.
A large area of the island has now become a resort known as Kayao Island Resort. The resort has capitalized on local labor and local knowledge to bring environmentally friendly buildings onto the island where the well off European visitors can enjoy some of the most pristinely beautiful views out over the ocean.
The next step: now that residents have begun living in Kayao Island Resorts the three men are moving on to new projects, including a spa complex right next door.
Posted by: Jen on 14 Jun 2007, 09:01