Room size trade off

[New Hotel 0]

Some great comments on the main thread but I wanted to ask a specific question here.

 

In Bangkok and elsewhere in the world, there has been a trend over the last few years towards providing hotel rooms which are smaller but well appointed, well designed and well thought out. Gone are the standard square rooms which leave large spaces unused, but which do make the room feel more spacious. As everything, including room size, comes at a cost, I would like your specific opinions.

 

I'm not looking at an Ibis type prefabricated bathroom and shower which although great for a cheap business hotel, is hardly conducive to a relaxed feeling so don't worry but I am looking more at the sleeping and living area.

 

For this question, assume that the room is very well finished with all the appliances you need and all worries about those sort of things are catered for. What I want you to concentrate on is the choice of the 3 room types I post below, all of which would only be differentiated by size and furnishings in that extra space.

 

Option 1

 

Basic room as expected. Corner table and chairs but no separate or additional lounge space. Effectively, watching TV would be done from sitting on the bed. Some floor space adding to the spaciousness of the room.

 

Option 2

 

As Option 1 only the room has been specifically designed to reduce floor space wastage. You lose nothing from Option 1 except some floor space.

 

Option 3

 

A more spacious room than Option 2 with the addition of a lounge seated area and a kitchenette with sink, microwave, plates, cutlery, etc. There would probably only be one TV but it would be designed so that the TV could be watched from the seating area. It is envisaged that the seating area would be comfortable and spacious enough to be the main daytime focal point of the room, whether for eating or relaxing. The extra space would come from a better designed room, rather than just simply extra external dimensions.

 

For simplistic comparison lets price Option 1 at Bt1000. This is not a price level but it gives a round number. Bearing everything in mind, how much of a reduction would you think there should be in the price of Option 2 to compensate for the reduced but wasted floor space and how much would you pay extra for the additional kitchenette facilities of Option 3 and the extra living space and furniture ?

 

There is no right or wrong answer and it might be that we do not have too much influence over the eventual room shapes and sizes but to put it quite simply, there is no point to put in facilities which cost more than the guest is prepared to pay extra for. Our basic product has to be right but size does matter to some people whilst others prefer quality. We are guaranteeing quality, so we are only looking at the prospective guest's desire for space and extra facilities versus price. It has not been costed out so I have no preconceptions. Please try to be as honest as possible. Thanks.

[Montydog 135]

How long is a piece of string?

 

Every individual ( and type of stay) needs different things, when I stay in a place for just a couple of nights when going through BKK or Udon etc I don’t mind a more compact room No need for a kitchen as long as it has a kettle for the morning cuppa, but a couple of comfy chairs or couch are a welcome addition.

 

If I’m staying for a longer time as I and I think most Pattaya visitors do, say 7 days plus, a little more space is a must a sitting / lounge area, balcony, large fridge are all good. Microwave, crockery, kitchen sink are a good extra but wont sell me the room. But space and a nice furnishings will.

 

Take a look at the popular guest houses around ;

 

Metro Apartments, Queen Vic, Rockhouse, Billabong etc all offer large well furnished accommodation at a good price and seem to have a very good occupancy rate.

 

I wish you well and hope you succeed in a crowded market but you have to find the fine line between quality/value and profitability Good Luck

[thaidave991 17]

Well this is room 3A at Canterbury Tales Cafe, includes Free wifi, in room safe, TV, DVD player, large free dvd library, 550 per night or 12,000 per month which works out at 400 per night, the monthly deal is + electric @ 6 baht per unit and the meter is outside the room, water is free.

[short 215]

Take the Residence Garden. Move it to a more convienant location. Put a better mattress on the bed. Put a jacuzzi on the patio.

 

Bingo, perfect hotel.

 

 

 

Put some "love furniture" in it.

Edited October 24, 2009 by short

[New Hotel 0]

To clarify, I think what we are trying to do is gauge how guests value things and perhaps whether they make a trade off.

 

Everyone would choose a larger room were the price the same but on a daily basis, I wonder how much guests would be prepared to pay for space or how much of a discount they would need to receive to feel happy with a smaller space.

 

Without being disrespectful, we are looking at a more coordinated approach than the Canterbury Tales in the pictures above, perhaps more akin to a boutique hotel but without the "boutique" price tag. For instance, there will be no chipboard wardrobes or mix and "maybe" match furniture and soft furnishings, but rather a constant theme you can only get when the whole concept is thought through from the beginning and products sourced to work well together. That sounds rather pretentious just reading it back, but rather than rewrite it, it just means that before we start, we know we'll be going to market for X this and X that which matches X of the other, where X is the number of rooms we have. It won't be like going to a jumble sale and buying what they have that week and ending up with a set of rooms where everything is hit and miss.

 

The aim of the game is to keep the rooms full because rooms have a daily cost whether someone is staying there or not. At the end of the day it comes down to price per square meter and if the basic product is good enough to attract guests, then we want to know whether guests would prefer more space, on the understanding that more space means a higher rental rate. Conversely, some people may prefer a lower rental rate at the expense of space on the understanding that quality will not be compromised.

 

I hoope we get some more comments and I thank you all for those received to date.

[Sailfast 503]

In the first thread you started there where several mentions of seperate bedrooms/living area in a location between Beach and Second Road. Is there a chance of this happening? If not, kindly tell the hundreds of Residence Garden fans that you won't be luring us away.

 

If you are interested in a business model that works, maybe you should take a peek at the Res. Garden.

 

It has everything I want, but the location is not so good and the price is just a bit high.

Edited October 25, 2009 by Sailfast

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Without being disrespectful, we are looking at a more coordinated approach than the Canterbury Tales in the pictures above, perhaps more akin to a boutique hotel but without the "boutique" price tag. For instance, there will be no chipboard wardrobes or mix and "maybe" match furniture and soft furnishings, but rather a constant theme you can only get when the whole concept is thought through from the beginning and products sourced to work well together. That sounds rather pretentious just reading it back, but rather than rewrite it, it just means that before we start, we know we'll be going to market for X this and X that which matches X of the other, where X is the number of rooms we have. It won't be like going to a jumble sale and buying what they have that week and ending up with a set of rooms where everything is hit and miss.

 

Why would you want to incur all the expenses associated with a Boutique hotel whilst aiming the product, price wise, at a 3* tourist market? It sounds good from a punter's point of view but rather silly from a hotel owner's. From what I've seen, a decent "boutique" hotel in Pattaya/Jomtien commands 35-50 Baht/sq m per night - BTW, I wouldn't call the RG a boutique hotel - i.e 1,400-2,000 Baht per night for a 40 sq m room.

Edited October 25, 2009 by CheshireTom

[bangsaenguy 37]

RG at 1400-2000 baht seems very reasonable. Most people don't mind paying more for quality.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

RG at 1400-2000 baht seems very reasonable. Most people don't mind paying more for quality.

 

It's hardly a boutique hotel. If anything, the furnishings/decor in the living area could best be described as spartan.

[Sailfast 503]

It's hardly a boutique hotel. If anything, the furnishings/decor in the living area could best be described as spartan.

 

I don't think I'd go as far as spartan, then again, I 've never been to Sparta. (sorry I just couldn't stop myself)

 

All very bad jokes aside, and I know it's all a matter of opinion, but I would not classify the RG decor as spartan. The furniture could be upgraded, but I would not add much too it. I like the open feeling in the living area and the bedroom furniture is just fine the way it is.

[thaidave991 17]

I guess its down to personal tastes, I have stayed in the Sofitel Hotel I think was in Korat and paid 2,500 per night and wondered why and thought I was being a bit snobbish but yes it was nice.

 

I have also stayed in Guest houses such as mine and paid a fith of the price and have been just as happy and of course human nature is that if we can save a few quid for other things then why not.

 

Our rooms have a safe, A/C, fan, TV, DVD player, free wifi, dining table and chairs, sofa, recliner etc etc but people are used to saying "thats nice" and many are satisfied with saving money and and staying somewhere with adequate facilities not bothered about fitted wardrobes and gold taps.

 

Of course there will always be plenty of custom for both types.

[ThaiLearner 18]

I never need a massive room and yes alot of places do waste the space but I don't what somewhere that is like a cupboard eg you fall out of bed and end up on the shit house.

 

I look for a good value, clean, friendly, safe and quite.

[BigDUSA 71]

Why would you want to incur all the expenses associated with a Boutique hotel whilst aiming the product, price wise, at a 3* tourist market? It sounds good from a punter's point of view but rather silly from a hotel owner's. From what I've seen, a decent "boutique" hotel in Pattaya/Jomtien commands 35-50 Baht/sq m per night - BTW, I wouldn't call the RG a boutique hotel - i.e 1,400-2,000 Baht per night for a 40 sq m room.

 

Tom makes a goint point. How many guys are truly interested in a kitchenette? What about the smells associated with cooking fish? I stay at a guest house where the owner has installed a microwave, kettle and if I remember correctly a rice cooker. Only the kettle has ever been used.

[jacko 8,814]

Tom makes a goint point. How many guys are truly interested in a kitchenette? What about the smells associated with cooking fish? I stay at a guest house where the owner has installed a microwave, kettle and if I remember correctly a rice cooker. Only the kettle has ever been used.

I don't think many BM guys living in a hotel room will be grilling kippers, a can of tuna might get opened.

(Of course guests from China or India might do that.)

I often stayed at the RG and like you, beyond instant coffee or a cuppa tea the kitchen facilities went unused.

[sinbinjack 251]

I would love to reply in an easy manner to your question but I don't believe that there is enough information given to make any kind of rational decision.Am I going to be in the room for 1 day 1 week or 1 month. A different set of decision making criteria come in to play with each different length of stay, and the outside ammenities also come into play, at least for me.

[gregj69 2]

I guess it comes down to personal taste on furnishings. In my opinion, if the furnishings match and are not falling apart, that is a good start in Pattaya. I look for facilities that meet my needs and value for money. From 700 - 900 a night Billabong is as good as any but I am biased. Have a look at the website Billabong Hotel and here is a photo or two.

 

Greg

 

 

Superior

 

 

Deluxe

 

 

Standard

[bangsaenguy 37]

It's hardly a boutique hotel. If anything, the furnishings/decor in the living area could best be described as spartan.

Guess I assumed the quality was there. The photos in this thread cetainly represent my idea of spartan. I don't go OTT but I like a separate bedroom so I book a suite at Sandy Spring.

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

Take the Residence Garden. Move it to a more convienant location. Put a better mattress on the bed. Put a jacuzzi on the patio.

 

Bingo, perfect hotel.

 

 

 

Put some "love furniture" in it.

The mattress is about the equivalent of putting sheets on the floor. Other than that I enjoyed my one stay there.

[thaidave991 17]

And of course as the Soi Bauhkow and its side roads are growing so quickly its becoming very popular and competitive which is good for the customer

[BigDUSA 71]

I don't think many BM guys living in a hotel room will be grilling kippers, a can of tuna might get opened.

(Of course guests from China or India might do that.)

I often stayed at the RG and like you, beyond instant coffee or a cuppa tea the kitchen facilities went unused.

 

Years ago I stayed at the Yensabai Condo that had a cook top. I had a long term GF that one day bought fish when I was out and I could smell the fish frying when I got off the elevator. I agree most guys won't be doing any serious cooking but their GF might.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Well this is room 3A at Canterbury Tales Cafe ............

 

Dave,

 

Is that the "Rainbow" themed room?

[mister_handy 124]

Personally, I look for the following in a hotel:

1) Clean and safe.

2) Ability to book a non-smoking room in advance.

3) Convenient location.

4) Comfortable bed, and at least a double.

5) Internet access

6) Price

7) Good pool

 

Room size doesn't even make it on there, for the most part. The smallest rooms at Majestic Suites in Bangkok are fine. Some of the hotels I've stayed at for business in Tokyo and Hong Kong, where the room is so small that the bed is only accessible from one side are too small for mongering use, although they beat the one time I was at a hotel (in the US, surprisingly) where the room was so small that you had to scoot sideways next to the bed --- pushing it into the cornerr would have been preferable.

 

As for decor, as long as it's clean and functional, don't care.

 

In Pattaya, my usual places are the Areca and the Dynasty Inn soi 13. Both have much larger rooms than I need, and seem a little spendy at ~1300/night but have not found anywhere else in that area that does better and meets my needs.

[New Hotel 0]

Appreciate all the comments and thank you for your time.

 

We know the Residence Garden and it does seem that many people like the room but not the location and then many state they do not use the pool but book it only because of the room. Others value location over all else whilst many comments on this thread talk about the room not being an issue over a certain minimum and there being no need for anything bar a kettle and some cups and tea/coffee. All interesting points, thanks.

[roomak 0]

I personally have always despised "looms" - too small to swing a cat! However, clever and classy interior design can make one hell of a difference. The other day I looked at a brand new place in Soi AR (Soi Sukradee) which is so stunning that I am contenplating to trade my 150 sqm house for a 54 sqm condo!

[BigDUSA 71]

Appreciate all the comments and thank you for your time.

 

We know the Residence Garden and it does seem that many people like the room but not the location and then many state they do not use the pool but book it only because of the room. Others value location over all else whilst many comments on this thread talk about the room not being an issue over a certain minimum and there being no need for anything bar a kettle and some cups and tea/coffee. All interesting points, thanks.

 

Non slip tiles for the shower area.