Royal Cliff Hotels Group

Royal Cliff Hotels Group
Royal Cliff Grand Hotel
General information
Location	Pattaya, Thailand
Opening	1973 (1973)
Other information
Number of rooms	1090
Number of restaurants	11

The luxury five star Royal Cliff Hotels Group consists of 4 hotels and a multipurpose convention centre situated between Jomtien and South Pattaya, Thailand. Occupying 64 acres (26 ha) of parkland overlooking the East Coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The hotel group has won multiple prestigious awards, and is the only property in Asia to be elevated to the TTG Travel Hall of fame.

History

In 1973, Royal Cliff Beach Terrace opened with 106 rooms and a year later the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel came into existence. Over the next twelve years, the 2 hotels were firmly established as Pattaya's premier accommodation. In 1986 the Royal Wing Suites & Spa was opened by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, becoming the resort’s premium product. Then in 1992 the resort completed its final hotel to date, The Royal Cliff Grand Hotel. TripAdvisor once ranked both the Royal Wing Suites & Spa and Royal Cliff Grand Hotel as the number one place to stay in Pattaya.

Late in 1999, a major addition was made to the resort’s meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition facilities. This was the multipurpose stand–alone meeting venue, Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall, with the capacity of catering for up to 8,000 delegates.

The Royal Cliff Hotels Group has been the setting for some of the most important meetings in the region, while ASEAN conferences have been held over the years. In 1991, the resort played host to the Cambodian Peace talks; in 1997, the hotel was the venue for the drafting of the new Thai constitution; and in 2003, it hosted the APEC Tourism Working Group, attended by senior tourism officials from 21 member countries.

In April 2009, an ASEAN conference had to be canceled unexpectedly and immediately, and Asian leaders evacuated, some by helicopter, after hundreds of protesters stormed and entered the facility. The protest occurred on the last day of the ASEAN+3 meeting, hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bringing it to an abrupt end, but not before delegates had successfully concluded several important meetings during the first two days of the gathering. Delegation leaders were escorted off the property and the protesters dispersed. No delegates, hotel guests, tourists or staff were injured during the protest.

Facilities & Services

Royal Wing Suites & Spa

Altogether the Royal Cliff Hotels Group consists of four 5-star hotels linked by walkways, offering a total of 1,090 rooms and suites, 11 restaurants and bars, 6 swimming pools, 2 health spas, Thai culinary arts school, state-of-the art fitness complex, 7 floodlit tennis courts, 2 squash courts, 4-hole putting green, 2 private beaches, a world-class convention and exhibition centre, 3 ballrooms, 53 meeting rooms and a private catamaran for charter . The Managing Director of the hotel, Panga Vathanakul, is the Honorary Consul of Russia, and the consulate is located within the hotel premises.

Notable hotel guests

From H.M the King of Sweden to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and actors Roger Moore, William Hurt and Britt Ekland, numerous VIP’s, entertainers and heads of state have visited the Royal Cliff Beach Resort over the last 30 years. Many tennis stars including Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Nicolas Kiefer and Paradorn Srichaphan have regular stayed at the Royal Cliff and practiced on the resort's tennis courts.

Other notable royals and heads of state who have stayed at the resort: HRH King Albert II of Belgium, HM The Sultan of Brunei Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim, HM the King of Swaziland, HM King Norodom Sihanouk & Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk of Cambodia, HRH Prince & Princess Akishino of Japan, The Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong, President of the Philippines Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak, Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen and Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva.