Centara Hotels&Resorts has announced the acquisition of a new five-star resort hotel in Phuket, Centara Grand West Sands Resort&Villas Phuket, which is located on Mai Khao Beach on the island’s west coast, 15 minutes away from Phuket International Airport.

A management contract has been signed with developers and owners, Central&City Developments Ltd., and the hotel has now been rebranded from West Sands Phuket to Centara Grand West Sands Resort&Villas Phuket.

“We are very happy to be adding this resort to our portfolio, as it will appeal to a broad range of guests from singles to couples, families, and groups, with a superb location on Mai Khao Beach and plenty of activities for everyone,” said Suthikiati Chirathivat, Chairman of the Executive Board, Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited.

Centara Grand West Sands Resort&Villas is set in 47 acres (121 rai) of lush tropical landscaping, bordering on 500 meters of pristine beach frontage on Mai Khao Beach, the longest and quietest stretch of sand on Phuket’s magnificent west coast.

The resort has a waterpark with 12 waterslides, including a huge superbowl slide and a 335-meter lazy river.

The present accommodation totals 316 rooms, built under the first phase, consisting of 115 deluxe rooms, 97 one-bedroom suites, 36 one-bedroom grand suites, 18 two-bedroom grand suites, 12 three-bedroom penthouses, and 38 beach and pool villas.

A second phase is to be completed in October next year, and a third phase in October 2013, which will take the total number of accommodation units to 784.

Dining and bar facilities include a beachside BBQ and a Thai restaurant, while leisure facilities include a Spa Cenvaree, fitness center, tennis court, and a kids’ club.

Centara Hotels&Resorts is Thailand’s largest operator of hotels, with 44 deluxe and first-class properties covering all the major tourist destinations in the kingdom. A further 17 resorts in the Maldives, Indian Himalayas, Philippines, Vietnam, Bali Indonesia, Srilanka, and Mauritius Indian Ocean, brings the present total to 61 properties. Brands and properties within Centara ensure that specific categories such as couples, families, individuals, and meetings and incentives groups will all find a hotel or resort that is appropriate to their needs.

Centara operates 21 branches of Spa Cenvaree, one of Thailand’s most luxurious and innovative spa brands, and the company’s Kids’ Club is available at all the family-friendly resorts to ensure that the youngsters and teens are taken care of. Centara Hotels&Resorts also operates 2 state-of-the-art convention centers in Bangkok, and 1 in Udon Thani in northeastern Thailand.

City.Mobi

Also in Thailand today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Bangkok.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Bangkok.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.