Face-to-Face: Nathalie Post
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Nathalie Post, general manager of the Phachara Suites, Bangkok, talks to Travel Daily…
1) Can you tell us briefly about the Phachara Suites?
Phachara Suites opened in 2010, as part of the Singaporean hotel group, Frasers Hospitality. The property has 194 rooms and suites, one restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool with a sauna, a fitness centre with a large outdoor terrace, a spa. The property is a hotel and serviced residence and welcomes guests for stays of one night to one month and more. All the rooms are very spacious (the smallest is 45m²) and come with sitting and kitchen areas, washer/dryers, cooking essentials, plus a very large selection of cable TV channels, DVD players and iPod dock and radio alarm clock.
The location is walking distance from the BTS Skytrain, to which we provide a tuk-tuk, and close to the main business and shopping districts and many popular restaurants and bars. But Sukhumvit Soi 6 remains a quiet street in the evening despite its proximity to so many happening places.
2) How has the hotel performed so far?
Phachara Suites has performed very well over the last few years with a good improvement year-on-year from all channels. We are a preferred hotel for many corporate companies and becoming more and more popular online, having won awards from the likes of TripAdvisor and Booking.com. The property has a high percentage of repeat customers. Most customers will book either through our sales team or go through our property website phacharasuites.com.
3) What are your key market areas and have noticed any visitor trends?
Most of our customers are from Asia with a large majority from Japan, whether they are corporate or leisure guests. Almost 10% of our guests will be from the Middle East, thanks to our proximity to Soi 3 offering many Middle Eastern restaurants. Other nationalities are a good mix of Europeans, (UK, France), USA, Australia and Korea. The US and Korean markets have shown good growth since last year.
4) What are the hotel’s plans for the future?
Our strength has always been the attention to detail and the personalised service we offer to our guests. We are planning to develop this personalised aspect further, to continue to differentiate ourselves from the other hotels and especially the new hotels opening up on Sukhumvit.
Our hotel’s ‘human size’ lobby allows our guest service team to meet the guests personally and offer assistance they may require.
Regarding the hardware, we are working on some product improvements, including in the restaurant area. There are also plans for an outdoor terrace and bar area.
5) What challenges do you expect the hotel to face your property over the next 12 months?
The challenge is to always stay aware of what our guests need and stay aware of what the new hotels opening up are offering, keeping an eye on the new trends in the market. We will continue to grow our presence on social media and ensure Phachara Suites remains one of the better properties in the area, maintaining good standards in product and service, novelty, and an ensuring we offer excellent value.
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