Building a mini-resort in Phuket - The City Resort

**Simon43** · 04-04-2012, 06:53 PM

Izzybloke - here are some 'snaps'

**Looper** · 04-04-2012, 07:15 PM

Nice door.

You are marketing it as an Airport Overnight hotel from the sign above the door? But the island is quite small. Surely easier to get a taxi to your main hotel, even for a late arrival, rather than unpack and repack and get a taxi next morning.

The beach and national park area up there are quite nice. Shouldn't it just be a regular hotel?

**Simon43** · 04-04-2012, 07:27 PM

@Looper, trust me on this

I have been building/managing 'airport' hotels at Phuket Airport since 2005 - it is a small but solid business. I leave the 'holiday' hotels to others

The City Resort (Airport Overnight Hotel) opened in late February and has been 100% occupied every night since opening. (Of course, there are only a few rooms, but it's a good family business).

The Country Resort (Airport SKY Resort) has also had a very high occupancy rate, (it's my ex's hotel, so full occupancy for my hotel is my first priority when I manage/market these businesses.

Phuket FLY guesthouse, which is the other airport business she owns, is now changing hands next week and becoming Phuket JET Inn - I'm acquiring this business from my ex so she can concentrate on her new resort.

Simon

**DrAndy** · 04-04-2012, 08:05 PM

It looks good, as said, nice gate but get rid of the wheels

wrong image

**Simon43** · 04-04-2012, 08:27 PM

but get rid of the wheels

I was just changing them on my old vehicle - I'll put them back on

**DrAndy** · 04-04-2012, 11:27 PM

I thought some local gyppos had abandoned them

**Kwang** · 04-04-2012, 11:42 PM

Looks nice and clean like again mate. Gotta give you 10/10 for cleanliness.

Any Glory Holes ?

**Looper** · 04-04-2012, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by DrAndy

It looks good, as said, nice gate but get rid of the wheels

wrong image

Casa Simon is Thailand's only Mexican style 19th century US western frontier theme hotel.

Looks fine Simon. Don't listen to this rabble. Maybe needs a 15 foot tall green foam rubber fake cactus in the front yard as a finishing touch.

**Kwang** · 05-04-2012, 12:10 AM

You do need to change the name I feel, something like

los testículos de los toros

OK it won't get first place in Yellow Pages but say it a few times to yourself and it sounds kinda neat, get yourself a Sombrero and Poncho too, some fat cigars and a rocking chair

**jizzybloke** · 05-04-2012, 02:54 AM

Originally Posted by Simon43

Izzybloke - here are some 'snaps'

Who's he

Looks like a great little place, well done!

**Necron99** · 05-04-2012, 03:48 AM

Know how people like to take ashtrays an shit from hotels?
I'm gonna take your doors..

**taxexile** · 05-04-2012, 09:25 AM

interesting thread, good luck with your project.

**Phuketrichard** · 05-04-2012, 09:50 AM

love the door as well BUT question why do u call it a resort?
do u offer swimming pool, spa, restaurant?

Great about ur 100% occupancy, good call on the location. Lets hope it lasts the next 7 months till high season rolls around again

Might be better calling it an overnight short time hotel for travelers

**Looper** · 05-04-2012, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

why do u call it a resort?

Since it is the last one on the way to the airport from anywhere on the island why not call it The Last Resort?

**DrAndy** · 05-04-2012, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

Might be better calling it an overnight short time hotel for travelers

rooms by the hour?

**DrAndy** · 05-04-2012, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by Looper

Maybe needs a 15 foot tall green foam rubber fake cactus in the front yard as a finishing touch.

well, if he had that then the wheels would have to stay

**stickmansucks** · 05-04-2012, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Looper

Nice door.

You are marketing it as an Airport Overnight hotel from the sign above the door? But the island is quite small. Surely easier to get a taxi to your main hotel, even for a late arrival, rather than unpack and repack and get a taxi next morning.

The beach and national park area up there are quite nice. Shouldn't it just be a regular hotel?

Simon is so smart that he even wrote AIRPORT HOTEL on the door so when Google street view car will pass by he will get a better position in Google thanks to these keywords :-)

**Simon43** · 05-04-2012, 07:14 PM

love the door as well BUT question why do u call it a resort?

It was only called 'city resort' for the purposes of the TD thread - to differentiate it from the Country Resort thread.

In any case, the name 'Airport Overnight Hotel' describes exactly what it is and was chosen for the best Google keyword hits.

Great about ur 100% occupancy, good call on the location. Lets hope it lasts the next 7 months till high season rolls around again

Well, my MO seems to have worked every year since 2006, so I'm happy

**DrAndy** · 05-04-2012, 07:41 PM

smug bastard

**Itchy** · 05-04-2012, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by DrAndy

smug bastard

Perhaps you told us more than you wanted to with such a short statement.

**DrAndy** · 06-04-2012, 01:52 PM

^

Originally Posted by Simon43

Well, my MO seems to have worked every year since 2006, so I'm happy

I was referring to that

so no

**Simon43** · 26-06-2012, 07:21 PM

Just a quick update as to how the business is doing, since opening at the end of February 2012.

Occupancy figures have been so far:

March 96%
April 92%
May 83%
June 76%

The decrease in occupancy is as expected as we go into the rainy season - I'm happy with these figures.

Customer satisfaction:
Agoda.com - Good 7.2/10
TripAdvisor.com 4.5/5

Google.com ranking:
First page for search terms 'Phuket Airport hotel' (which is usually what people search for...)

So far, so good

**aging one** · 26-06-2012, 07:45 PM

good for you Simon, glad to hear it. Hard work pays off.

**Wizard of Oz** · 28-06-2012, 07:22 AM

Hi Simon, good luck with your business. I'm a hotelier myself and know about the challenges of running a hotel/resort.

Just a few quick remarks. Occupancy is a nice figure but in the end all that matters is what figures are on the bottom line.When I worked in Australia, during the summer months it was always very hard to get people in, too hot. Most hotels would lower their prices to an absolute minimum to attract guests. I just kept the prices high. Sure sold less rooms then the other hotels, but made more money bottom line. Less airco's running and less staff.

Tripadvisor is a nice website to get a general idea of a hotel, many reviews are fake, there are loads of people offering their services to write good reviews for a hotel and even bad ones for the competition. I always look for reviews of properties from websites that only give you the opportunity to write a review if you have actually stayed there.

You also might wanna look at the picture on the bookings website (Phuket.com/Asiawebdirect.com, I think you can do much better. A view from a suite into the garden where a green shade cloth is used as a partition doesn't look very nice, some people will question security, especially after all the bad publicity in the past few months.

Other (low) shot of a bathroom which shows the underside of a wash basin and toilet makes no sense at all to me.

Also all rooms are empty, no guests. Happy people in pictures in a room or having a drink does invite people to stay. Empty rooms look static and a bit sad. Empty fridge at the snack bar? has the same effect.

On your own website:

Distance to airport? Top banner states 300 meters, right from the changing pics it says "The boutique private hotel that's just 200 meters from Phuket International Airport, in "our location" the claim is "Perfectly located on 'Soi Airport Residence', 250 meters from the airport terminal. Might wanna have a look at 3 different distances, confusing.

Have a look at "cosy bedrooms" where the "light quits", (sorry had to laugh) I'm sure you mean quilts!

2 kids under 13 can stay for free, doesn't mention using excisting bedding or do you put rollaways in the room.

The main picture on top of the page have some strange colors running through it, don't know how that happened.

Not trying to break you down, but offer some advice. I'm sure you are an excellent hotelier but it is always good to have someone else look at your hotel(and website and other things)through different eyes.

If you have any questions about the remarks, please feel free to contact me.

**Cthulhu** · 28-06-2012, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by Looper

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

why do u call it a resort?

Since it is the last one on the way to the airport from anywhere on the island why not call it The Last Resort?

BRILLIANT!

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