HILTON Hotels & Resorts launched its ninth property in Thailand yesterday when Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok officially opened its doors.
The 280-room five-star property located in downtown Bangkok will target business and leisure travellers from within the region, especially Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia and South Korea.
General manager Chris Ehmann said he is focusing on the hotel’s F&B outlets – Scalini, an 1920s-style Italian-American restaurant and Mondo, which serves Mediterranean and Asian tapas – to build the hotel’s reputation within Bangkok.
“I really want people to say they’re going to Scalini, rather than just telling friends they’re eating at the Hilton,” he said. “We have something unique with both restaurants. They have strong identities, excellent food and they’re quite informal. So we’ll really be focusing on building their exposure to drive business.”
Ehmann said leveraging the strong identity of the property, which features a 1920s to 1930s US Prohibition-era aesthetic throughout its restaurants, bars, public areas and meetings spaces, would be key in making it stand out in the city’s increasingly competitive market.
The property is designed to maximise the use of natural light, especially at the Summit meeting facilities on the 25th floor. Given its relatively limited space, the hotel will be targeting executive-level groups for its MICE business, said Ehmann.
“We’re looking at small-to-medium size groups for MICE,” he said. “The boardroom at The Summit can fit 14 people, so it’s ideal for quarterly meetings. The other two rooms are larger and can hold 20 to 50 people. We’re promoting The Summit as a destination rather than a meeting room. In life most business is conducted outside of a meeting room, which is why we have the kitchen and study as less formal breakout spaces.”
The hotel has seven meeting spaces of which the 250-pax ballroom is the largest.
