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New property takes outdoor ambience one step further The Central Krabi Bay Resort located in a secluded bay near Ao Nang is scheduled to open in November. It's a low-rise building comprising 192 ocean-facing rooms and villas. It's 20 minutes ride from Krabi Airport. Each unit occupies a generous 77 square metres and features a bathroom with extra deep bath, heavenly rain shower, flat screen satellite TV, in-room safe, mini-bar, tea and coffee-making facilities, hairdryer and high-speed Internet.Club-level rooms offer unrivalled service with exclusive access to the club lounge. Each room has two terraces for a spacious outdoor lounging and dining experience. Private spa suites and villas have their own pool and outdoor sala. The resort offers a wide range of activities for guests of all age: the Centara Spa, fitness centre, PADI dive centre, tennis, boating, windsurfing, a kid's club and play areas that will be managed by professional hands. It has a self-contained convention facility with two adjoining conference venues and two breakout rooms that can take up to 200 guests. According to Mr Gerd K. Steeb, executive vice president of Central Hotels & Resorts, the property was designed to give guests a taste of outdoor living. Therefore, each room has two balconies offering 180-degree view of the surroundings. The resort sits on the mainland but access is by boat. Hills embrace the resort on three sides. It's just three-storey tall, built to comply with environmental standards. Given the decline of tourist business in the aftermath of the tsunami, the launch has been timed to coincide with the start of high tourist season, and Mr Steeb is keeping his expectations modest, predicting 50 percent occupancy in the first year but hoping it to rise to 70 percent the following year. Interestingly, the resort will be the first in Thailand to introduce amphibious vehicle for transferring guests from the mainland to the resort. The craft can carry 20 people at a time. The introductory rate for the high season is 7,000 baht per room per night. The hotel took unusually long to complete, progress being slow due to environmental factors, said Mr Steeb. The Central Hotels & Resorts expects profits in excess of two billion baht this year with the bulk coming from Central Samui Beach Resort, Sofitel Central Hua Hin and Sofitel Central Plaza Bangkok. Earlier this year, Central Hotels & Resorts secured contracts to manage two more hotels _ Central Duangtawan in Chiang Mai and Central River House in Chiang Rai _ thereby boosting its management portfolio to nine properties throughout Thailand. Bangkok Post August 2005 www.bangkokpost.com |