Hospitality / Vala Hua Hin

Editorial staff

Nu Chapter Hotels, the operator of five-star Vala Hua Hin beachfront boutique resort, is diversifying its business portfolio into a full-fledged food business by opening Casa Mare Beachfront Restaurant & Lounge, on the Cha-Am beach, next month.

Its move is part of reducing risks from relying heavily on its hotel business, currently under the brand of Vala Hua Hin, which was opened in 2020 with 1.2 billion baht in investment cost, with the character of ‘’Nature’s Touch with a Modern Design.’’

Vasuma Kanathanavanich, the company’s executive director, said with long experience in running the hotels and hotel restaurants, coupled with a food lover, she has decided to jump into the competitive food business by opening the first Casa Mare restaurant. She is confident that the opening of Casa Mare will follow step of the Vala Hua Hin, which got warmly welcomed by local and foreign travelers.

‘’We expect Casa Mare Beachfront Restaurant & Lounge to be a new landmark for all travelers to visit Cha-Am and Hua Hin’s and a place for everybody to enjoy life from day to night,” Ms Vasuma said.

Casa Mare, the two-storey beach front restaurant with 800 square metres space, will be opened next month, as the Songkran Festival month. It will offer a variety of food from vibrant mix of Thai, seafood, modern Asian with European flare under the concept of Favorite Feast by the Sea, from day to night with price range 600-800 baht per head. It has both indoor and outdoor seating, accommodating 250 customers. Moreover, it also serves as a new seaside event venue for 30 to 300 people.

“Casa Mare is the first restaurant under Nu Chapter Hotels was created from my passion on food and with our experience in managing hotel for several years. We expect it will be a must-visit spot for tourists heading to Hua Hin-Cha-am, as it's conveniently located halfway between Cha-am and Hua Hin,” she said.

At the same time, Nu Chapter Hotels has strengthened its hotel business as well by adding services and activity. Among them is to launch the first sea spa in Cha-Am, so called “Sela Sea Sanctuary Spa” at Vala Hua Hin beach resort next month to cash in on the strong wellness trend. Its spa will serve both the internal and external customers of the hotel. Also, it opens “Wonder Woods Kid Club” on the space of 160 square metres at the hotel early next month to satisfy hotel’s customers, which about 70% are young families.

Wonder Woods Kid Club will cater for children aged 2-12 years old. There are indoor activity areas such as the ball pit zone and mini slider, along with outdoor activity such as an Organic Farm, where children can learn about nature's way of life, such as vegetable gardening and collecting chicken eggs.

She said that the introduction of new services will attract customers to spend more time at its hotel, and some activities can attract outside visitors, leading to significant revenue growth.

After reopening the country from the Covid-19 pandemic, Hua Hin‘s tourism market has shown significant recovery. Vala Hua Hin has an occupancy rate of 65% currently and its rate is expected to grow more, thanks to continuous tourism boom. At present, over 50% of customers is short-haul customers from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, compared to the Covid crisis era with more than 90% of its customer base being Thai.

Ms Vasuma said her hotel will put more focus on long-haul travelers from Europe, which has shown recovery since the end of last year.