Dusit hotel group unveils new D2 expansion plan

By David Johnson BANGKOK Dusit Hotels and Resorts has unveiled a new brand of lifestyle hotels with the group's first D2 property to open in Chiang Mai early next year. The brand extension for Thailand's oldest hotel management company, which boasts over 20 properties in five countries, will be expanded to other prime destinations, including Bangkok and overseas, the company said in a statement. D2 is in tune with global hospitality trends by offering a more modern lifestyle concept, moving away from the huge hotels of the past to a more individual, boutique approach, while retailing the Thai features for which the group is famous, a hotel spokesperson said. Every D2 hotel will be designed with a totally different concept from the existing Dusit or Royal Princess brands, while maintaining international brand level standards that has ensured the success of the group among CEI customers. The inaugural D2 hotel in Chiang Mai will have 130 guest rooms, two restaurants, a gym, swimming pool, business club lounge, meeting and banqueting rooms, and Dusit group's signature De-varana Spa. Industry observers told CEI Asia Pacific that the announcement, twinned with the soon-to-be opened 142 villas and suites of the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi Chiang Mai, is expected to give Chiang Mai a boost following a recent spate of negative press.