Top hotel in Koh Samui hotel seeks massive expansion on property

In anticipation of the huge influx of visitors in Koh Samui in Thailand one of the top hotels in the area will spend a huge amount of money to expand the property.

The owners of The Library Hotel will spend Bt150 million to Bt200 million on extensions to double the hotel’s accommodation providing at least 20 new rooms in 2010.

The hotel’s owner, Kasemtham Sornsong, who is also managing director of Kamoltham, the company that manages The Library, explained the company began studying the expansion when it saw strong demand from foreign visitors to Koh Samui.

The Library now has only 26 guest units built on 5 rai of land, part of a larger, 11-rai block. It is expected the extensions will occupy the rest of the land.

Kasemtham said that while the number of tourists on Koh Samui fell after the onset of the global recession, the number of guests at the hotel dropped only 10 per cent, from average occupancy of 65-70 per cent in 2007 to 55-60 per cent at the end of last year.

Koh Samui’s tourism industry is now showing significant signs of recovery, especially in the second half of the year, he said.

Up to 70 per cent of guests at The Library are foreign tourists, mostly from European countries, particularly the United Kingdom and Germany.

The Library is a member of Design Hotels, developed by local investors who once owned small rental bungalows on Chaweng Beach that cost tourists about Bt150 a night.

When Kasemtham renovated his family’s business on Chaweng Beach, he called the new hotel The Library, for the relaxation attendant upon reading, and boosted the room rate to between Bt15,000 and Bt18,000 a night.