Centara Hotels & Resorts
Company History
Thailand’s Leading Hotel Group
Centara Hotels & Resorts is dedicated to providing exceptional service in unique and sophisticated environments. As a Thai hospitality management and holding company it places a strong emphasis on providing Thai-influenced hospitality and its inimitably warm service across all its brands whilst embracing and maintaining a sense of place in the local environment of each property.
Founded
In 1983, the Central Group of companies – Thailand’s leading retail group – formed Central Hotels & Resorts and opened its first property, a five-star hotel together with the Bangkok Convention Centre, located in the expanding northern suburbs of Bangkok. Since renamed as the Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok, this property is now seen as one of Bangkok’s premier hotels for MICE facilities.
From this early start, the group expanded to major tourist destinations throughout Thailand, establishing a network of deluxe and first class properties nationwide. There are now 46 properties in Thailand, 35 in operation and 11 under development.
Short Story
In June 2007, in recognition of the need to establish a strong identity of its own, the hotel company was rebranded to Centara Hotels & Resorts. The brand portfolio includes Centara Grand Hotels & Resorts, Centara Hotels & Resorts, Centara Residences & Suites, Centara Boutique Collection, Centra by Centara Hotels & Resorts and COSI Hotels.
Following the rapid growth within Thailand, Centara embarked on a journey of international expansion where it continues to grow and flourish. Late in 2009, Centara opened its first overseas hotel, the five-star Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives which proved to be an immediate success. Centara’s portfolio currently comprises 77 properties spanning all major Thai destinations plus the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Oman and Qatar, and with development underway in Thailand, Laos, China, and the UAE.
The Future
The long-anticipated launch of Centara’s newest brand, COSI Hotels, took place late 2017 with the opening of the 150-room COSI Samui Chaweng. COSI Hotels is an affordable lifestyle brand for the modern, tech savvy traveller. COSI Hotels provide guests with an experience that’s reassuringly familiar yet distinguished by its location and local culture. Guests are always connected as COSI Hotels will ensure that each guestroom is equipped with the necessary connections for guests to plug in their laptops, tablets, smartphones and more.
The 152-room Centara Muscat Hotel Oman opened in 2017 as Centara’s first hotel in the Middle-East and will be closely followed by the Centara West Bay Residences & Suites Doha located moments away of the Corniche in Doha, Qatar. The group’s entrance into the UAE will materialise in 2019 as it has recently signed a joint venture agreement with UAE master developer Nakheel to create an upscale, 550-room, beachfront resort on Deira Islands in Dubai. This partnership was considered a ground-breaking move for Centara Hotels & Resorts as the new property will be Centara’s first hotel in Dubai.
Centara Hotels & Resorts expects to have more hotels operating in the Maldives by 2019 and the next couple of years will also see the opening of its first resort in China with the 237 room Centara Resort Zhaoqing. This will be followed by Centara Villas Zhaoqing, a luxurious resort with 46 villas. Both Centara Resort Zhaoqing and Centara Villas Zhaoqing are located in Guangdong’s Zhaoqing City, a regional tourist hub and one of the key cities in the Pearl River Delta region. Finally, Centara Grand Beach Resort Jin Tai Hainan will be a new five-star family resort with 350 guest rooms and waterpark, opening in 2019. Hainan is being promoted as “China’s Hawaii” and the entire island has been designated a Special Economic Zone. 2019 shall also mark the opening of two hotels in Luang Prabang and one hotel in Vientiane, Laos.
