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Owner of the Peep Inn chain remakes bed as boutique hotel group
Hormone-charged teenagers exchanging tokens of physical love. Naughty husbands purchasing temporary gratification. Or just drunken lovebirds not finding their way home. There was once a place where nobody needed to know your name as long as you had money, open 24/7 _ that place was the Peep Inn short-time motel.
The first Peep Inn was built some 25 years ago in Hua Mark, followed by branches in Ratchadaphisek, Sukhumvit Soi 33 and Rattanathibet areas. During the peak of the short-time motel business two decades ago, night owls and businessmen went to cocktail lounges and clubs for drinking and entertainment. Some ended up in short-times.
However, the love motel business has become unpopular. The Peep Inn and similar motels are a dying breed unless they adjust to changing urban lifestyles, said Sarun Limsawaddiwong, the second-generation owner of the Peep Inn.
Several factors have been noted for their demise: as condos become smaller and cheaper Bangkokians can buy a love nest, serviced apartments offer daily rates, and some residents feel their reputation would be ruined if they were seen coming out of a short-time.
In the past, short-times were fully occupied on Valentine's Day. Peak hours used to be 10pm to 4am, but now it has changed to noon to 8pm, said Mr Sarun.
Now there are no clients after 2am and the rotation has dropped from five times a day to at most three, he added. Many short-times, especially those in downtown Bangkok, were sold to property developers for profit or converted into two- to four-star hotels.
Other short-times popped up in the suburbs, housing 40-50 rooms and attracting clients with unique decorative themes or spas for individual rooms.
Mr Sarun said his father, Wichai Limsawaddiwong, used to recall the good old days 30 years ago. At that time, short-times spouted money like an ATM on the fritz, generating a gross margin of 50%. Rooms cost 100 baht for three hours, while today the average price is 500 baht for the same period.
Although the rate is higher, business is not as good as before. So Mr Sarun's family converted the Peep Inn Motel on Sukhumvit Soi 33 into a boutique hotel named S33, which opened in November last year.
"It was a tough decision to switch our focus and renovate because the short-time was running well. We were worried about how our loyal clients would feel. But we finally decided to change it because the business must meet what the market demands," said Mr Sarun.
He added that after the change, the hotel has a new group of clients. They are mostly tourists and the hotel has been warmly received.
For the remaining branches of Peep Inns, Mr Sarun said he is looking for the right time and style for their renovations. Some places may have to become more transparent. He said they will continue to target quick-stay clients but will present more unique concepts.
S Group operates the S15 Sukhumvit, S31 Sukhumvit and S33 Sukhumvit hotels. In 2011, total revenue from these three hotels was 292 million baht, expected to grow by 10% this year.
The group plans to launch a new hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 31 with 70-80 rooms and a rate starting from 1,000 baht per room. It cost 250 million baht and is scheduled to open next year.
"We prefer to operate a small hotel because the gross profit margin is higher. Competition among hotels in the Sukhumvit area is fierce, especially among rooms with rates slightly over 2,000 baht," Mr Sarun noted.
"We learned that rooms charging 2,100 to 2,200 baht will be fully booked first. So we will charge 1,000 baht per night to attract another segment of clients, as there are few players in this category in the Sukhumvit area."
Hormone-charged teenagers exchanging tokens of physical love. Naughty husbands purchasing temporary gratification. Or just drunken lovebirds not finding their way home. There was once a place where nobody needed to know your name as long as you had money, open 24/7 _ that place was the Peep Inn short-time motel.
The first Peep Inn was built some 25 years ago in Hua Mark, followed by branches in Ratchadaphisek, Sukhumvit Soi 33 and Rattanathibet areas. During the peak of the short-time motel business two decades ago, night owls and businessmen went to cocktail lounges and clubs for drinking and entertainment. Some ended up in short-times.
However, the love motel business has become unpopular. The Peep Inn and similar motels are a dying breed unless they adjust to changing urban lifestyles, said Sarun Limsawaddiwong, the second-generation owner of the Peep Inn.
Several factors have been noted for their demise: as condos become smaller and cheaper Bangkokians can buy a love nest, serviced apartments offer daily rates, and some residents feel their reputation would be ruined if they were seen coming out of a short-time.
In the past, short-times were fully occupied on Valentine's Day. Peak hours used to be 10pm to 4am, but now it has changed to noon to 8pm, said Mr Sarun.
Now there are no clients after 2am and the rotation has dropped from five times a day to at most three, he added. Many short-times, especially those in downtown Bangkok, were sold to property developers for profit or converted into two- to four-star hotels.
Other short-times popped up in the suburbs, housing 40-50 rooms and attracting clients with unique decorative themes or spas for individual rooms.
Mr Sarun said his father, Wichai Limsawaddiwong, used to recall the good old days 30 years ago. At that time, short-times spouted money like an ATM on the fritz, generating a gross margin of 50%. Rooms cost 100 baht for three hours, while today the average price is 500 baht for the same period.
Although the rate is higher, business is not as good as before. So Mr Sarun's family converted the Peep Inn Motel on Sukhumvit Soi 33 into a boutique hotel named S33, which opened in November last year.
"It was a tough decision to switch our focus and renovate because the short-time was running well. We were worried about how our loyal clients would feel. But we finally decided to change it because the business must meet what the market demands," said Mr Sarun.
He added that after the change, the hotel has a new group of clients. They are mostly tourists and the hotel has been warmly received.
For the remaining branches of Peep Inns, Mr Sarun said he is looking for the right time and style for their renovations. Some places may have to become more transparent. He said they will continue to target quick-stay clients but will present more unique concepts.
S Group operates the S15 Sukhumvit, S31 Sukhumvit and S33 Sukhumvit hotels. In 2011, total revenue from these three hotels was 292 million baht, expected to grow by 10% this year.
The group plans to launch a new hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 31 with 70-80 rooms and a rate starting from 1,000 baht per room. It cost 250 million baht and is scheduled to open next year.
"We prefer to operate a small hotel because the gross profit margin is higher. Competition among hotels in the Sukhumvit area is fierce, especially among rooms with rates slightly over 2,000 baht," Mr Sarun noted.
"We learned that rooms charging 2,100 to 2,200 baht will be fully booked first. So we will charge 1,000 baht per night to attract another segment of clients, as there are few players in this category in the Sukhumvit area."
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