Boutique Management Asia (BHMAsia), the Bangkok-based company that operates the X2 and Away boutique hotel brands, has been rebranded to allow it to focus on larger projects.
The company will continue to be known as BHMAsia, but this will now stand for Bespoke Hospitality Management Asia, as it diversifies away from the boutique sector of the market.
“We have decided to change our name in line with our expanding business operations, which now include resorts, hotels, villas, apartments, residential projects and spas,” explained Anthony McDonald, CEO of BHMAsia. “The name change highlights a growth in the scale of our business operations. We have talked with many property owners who are keen to deliver boutique experiences in large scale projects.”
BHMAsia said it would now be able to consider larger properties of between 100 and 300 rooms. In terms of brands, the company told Travel Daily today that the existing X2 brand “is definitely an option for larger hotels”, while it is also looking to develop its CASE brand for “midscale business hotels”.
“We believe that this change will deliver us good business not only from within Thailand but also from other countries, a chance of great business growth with our absolute hospitality solution service,” McDonald added.
BHMAsia currently manages 15 properties in Thailand, Cambodia and Australia under its X2, Away and Le Bayburi brands. The company is also developing a new luxury spa brand, Yan Spa, which will focus on China. Currently BHMAsia has five Yan Spas in the pipeline, including two in Shanghai and one in Hainan.
2014 has already seen an expansion of the company’s portfolio, with new boutique properties including the Away Villa Salt and Away Green Oasis in Phnom Penh, Away Nirvana, Away Paradise and Away Phucome Villa in Chiang Mai. It has also launched a new X2 resort on the banks of the River Kwai in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province.
“It has been a great success for us with our design resort brand X2 with properties in Kui Buri, Samui, Chiang Mai, Sydney, River Kwai and coming soon in Phuket and Hat Yai. We are now looking to take a bigger step forward, and aim for larger hotels,” said Frederic Garnier, BHMAsia’s director of operations & development.
“Our business development team will be focusing on larger projects this year and enhance our brands, especially X2, with more visibility. This year we put Bangkok as our priority,” he added.
Source: Travel Daily