Face to Face: Michel Serrano, Centara
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Michel Serrano is the general manager of the Centara property in the Ladprao area of Bangkok. The hotel is located in a usual non-tourist part of the city and has recently re-opened after a renovation.
How has the hotel performed since its re-opening?
We have seen a marked increase since last year. The hotel has been here 30 years and is a landmark in this part of the city. As the hotel was changed from a Sofitel it has been difficult and a challenge but the Centara brand is well established in Bangkok and Thailand so it seemed natural to bring it here. There were US$30 million renovations to the hotel so it felt like a good decision. The renovation took around a year and a half and since then we have had positive feedback to report.
Bookings have been affected by Europe which has had its ups and downs and we also saw a negative impact because of the floods. There was a rebound in early 2012 and we are lucky that we are boosted by events. This hotel will hold 220 weddings this year and 900,000 table covers, plus we are the only five-star hotel in the area.
What changes have you made to appeal to the leisure market?
We are predominantly a business hotel especially for government, which put an antenna here during the floods to help handle communications. However during the renovations we revamped our F&B outlets and have tried to reposition ourselves more into the leisure market which was not so big. To do this we added more suites and studios and updated the room design. The Central Plaza shopping centre also reopened at the same time as the hotel in September so it was a new opening across the board. The leisure side has picked up now and the naturally growing markets of Asia have helped.
What attractions are in the Ladprao area?
Chatuchak market is a big draw for us and lots of travellers head there.
We want to put plans in place to upgrade the swimming pool area and landscape the gardens, as we need to be fully equipped to bring holidaymakers in but also keep our standards high across the property.
You mark your 30th anniversary this year, how will you celebrate?
On 12.12.12 we will mark 30 years of the hotel and also the 30th anniversary of Centara so this will be a big event. We will invite our customers, guests, media and government to the event and it will be one of the biggest parties in Bangkok. We will also be working through some promotions for customers.
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