OR, Centara plan budget hotels - Bangkok Post
A concept image of the budget hotel project jointly developed by PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR) and Centara Hotels & Resorts for PTT service stations and other potential locations. (Photo: OR) PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR) is partnering with Centara Hotels & Resorts to develop budget hotels at PTT service stations and other high-potential locations, as it seeks to increase daily traffic across its nationwide station network to 5 million visits.
ML Peekthong Thongyai, chief executive officer of OR, said the company aims to raise traffic at more than 2,000 PTT service stations nationwide from about 3.9 million visits a day to 5 million by expanding its range of businesses and services to meet changing consumer lifestyles and strengthen its service-station ecosystem.
The budget hotel business is one of the new ventures being developed as part of the strategy.
OR has signed a joint venture agreement with Centara Hotels & Resorts to establish Pit Stop Hotel Co, with OR holding a 49% stake and Centara 51%. The joint venture will develop budget hotels at PTT stations as well as in other locations considered to have strong potential.
The partners will initially develop six pilot hotels in Don Mueang (Bangkok), Ayutthaya, Pattaya, Kanchanaburi, Hat Yai and Phuket, with an estimated investment of 700 million to 1 billion baht. Further expansion will depend on the performance and potential of other locations.
ML Peekthong said the hotels would help attract new customers to the PTT service-station ecosystem, which already includes convenience stores, Café Amazon outlets, laundries and otherservices.
“If traffic rises to 5 million visits a day from about 4 million at present, our EBITDA [Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] is expected to increase by 5 billion baht,” he said.
He said Centara’s involvement would improve the venture’s prospects, given the hotel group’s expertise in hotel operations and its established service standards.
Rajsuda Rungsiyakull, senior executive vice-president for Special Affairs 1 at OR, said the budget hotel concept is designed to provide modern travellers with convenient, clean, safe and value-for-money accommodation.
The hotels will adopt Centara’s service standards while offering room rates that are reasonable and competitive, she said.
The first hotels are scheduled to gradually open during 2027–28, with OR targeting a network of 50 properties by 2031.
Each hotel will have five storeys, with 79 rooms and 10 capsule rooms. Average room rates are initially expected to range from 800 to 1,300 baht per night, depending on location and local competition.
The company is targeting an occupancy rate of 75–80%.
If the business performs as expected, OR plans to expand the concept through franchising, Ms Rajsuda said.
The standard payback period for a business of this type is estimated at seven to 10 years. OR also plans to keep construction costs below 1 million baht per room.
The budget hotel venture forms part of OR’s broader strategy to expand its non-oil businesses and increase customer traffic and spending within its PTT service-station ecosystem.
