IHG and auto company sign deal for Bangkok Holiday Inn Express

InterContinental Hotels Group has added another Bangkok hotel to its Holiday Inn Express portfolio. In partnership with Ratchada Honda Automobile, the group has agreed to manage the Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Ratchada launching in 2020. The 220-guestroom Holiday Inn Express hotel will be developed in the center of Bangkok near the airport, Huai Khwang MRT station, the shopping and leisure district via MRT and BTS and Bangkok's sub-central business district along the Huai Khwang and Sutthisan intersection.

This is IHG's fifth Holiday Inn Express in Thailand's capital. The first, Holiday Inn Express Siam Bangkok, opened in summer 2012 with 300-guestrooms. The 184-room Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sathorn, the brand's second property in Bangkok, opened in 2014 in partnership with TCC Hotels Group. As part of another joint venture, IHG and Grand Uniland signed a deal for the 240-guestroom Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Chinatown opening this year. The Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 is also included in the portfolio. 

Other major hotel groups have been taking advantage of the growing investment opportunities in Thailand by setting their own plans for expansion. Marriott recently added two hotels to the capital city's stock operating under the Luxury Collection and Edition brands. Marriott relaunched the Plaza Athenee Bangkok as a Luxury Collection hotel on Nov. 7, 2017 after a complete renovation of the property. As the group's second Luxury Collection hotel in Bangkok, the Athenee, a Luxury Collection Hotel has 374 refurbished guestrooms near the Kandhavas Palace. The hotel group also announced plans to develop The Bangkok Edition, which is slated to open in mid-2018. The hotel expected to be the tallest building in Thailand will have 115 guestrooms.  

The following day, Minor Hotels announced its expansion plans in Thai resort destination Hua Hin. In partnership with B&G Park, Minor Hotels will rebrand the Ananda Hua Hin Resort & Spa as Avani Hua Hin Resort & Villas on Nov. 20, 2017, following Minor Hotels' $22.5-million investment. The rebranding of this 196-guestroom beachfront property is part of the group's construction pipeline in Thailand, which also includes the Avani Sunset Coast Samui Resort & Villas opening in September 2018 in Koh Samui with 58 guestrooms and villas.