BANGKOK, 9 March 2020: The spread of the Covid-19 virus is linked to a multitude of misfortunes so no surprises when the owners of the Windsor Suites Hotel blamed the virus for having to close the 50-year-old property.
Last week, the hotel’s general manager, Bobo Klingenborg, issued a memo to all staff stating the hotel, located on Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Road Soi 20, would close 30 April.
The GM’s memo dated 5 March stated: “It is with great sadness that I need to inform you that as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and the dramatic downturn in business over recent months we no longer have a choice but to close down the hotel.”
Covid-19 made its appearance in earnest in January this year although Chinese public health officials said forensics suggested the first case was evident in early December 2019.
Once operations close at the Windsor Suites, an extensive remake will begin. According to the statement, the 347-key property will reopen when demand returns to normal.
While Covid-19 probably had a hand in the decision to close the property, other factors may have come into play. Occupancy plummeted in recent months and like other family hotels in the city that are not part of a global hotel group, the competition was fiercer than ever.
Accor signed an agreement to manage the Windsor Suites Hotel in July 2019, and the deal pivots on completing a THB500 million renovation project to meet Accor’s standards for its Grand Mercure brand.
Noted for being one of the oldest properties on the famous Sukhumvit Road tourist strip, Accor said the property would be rebranded Grand Mercure Windsor in 2021. At the time, both the owners and Accor confirmed the hotel would undergo an extensive refurbishment with the lobby, dining outlets and rooms to be completed in phases in 18 months. Closing the property was probably the preferred option to complete the renovation in a shorter time span. The Covid-19 became the tipping point when it sent occupancy and room revenue into a steep dive.
Hotel owner, Bundit Bosereewong, told local media the project could be completed in eight months from now and reservations technically open this September on popular online booking sites.
Last July, Accor chief operating officer for Upper Southeast & Northeast Asia and the Maldives, Patrick Basset said: “We’re really excited to have the Windsor Suites Hotel join the Accor network giving visitors to Bangkok an added choice of hotels in the Sukhumvit area”.
Accor is the leading hotel operator in Thailand with 83 hotels and with a pipeline of 13 hotels scheduled to open over the next five years. The group currently manages a portfolio of 44 Grand Mercure hotels across the Asia Pacific region.
