We may have a Problem. Ideo Mobi 'Hotel'

[RoboLB]

We are about to buy our Condo and found that it is being advertised as Hotel units online!

Everywhere online!

http://www.booking.com/hotel/th/the-habitats-at-ideo-mobi-sukhumvit-onnut.html

OK, the short story. This is not about is this a good building etc...............

We are buying a Condo off the plan at Ideo Mobi Sukhumwit.

It's now finished and we are about to hand over the final cheque. Then my wife stopped the cheque!

She saw the building being advertised online as a Hotel............

OK, I can understand an owner or two maybe wanting to rent out their Condo. That's fine.

But it seems from reading various websites that this company 'Habitats' is going to use 50 Condos in our building as Hotel rooms.

Why is that bad?

Well, having so many 'transient' people living there, who don't own or rent the Condos, who treat it just like a Hotel...........can't be good.

They won't take care of the place or may not behave that well, because it is not there 'home'.

So, is this normal?

We don't seem to have any kind of Strata agreement that covers this. Just the sale contract.

Not sure if Strata agreements are Internationally used, but they lay down what owners and residents can and cannot do with the building.

I have to say we are panicking a bit and may pull out of the sale even if we lose our deposit.

I don't want to live in a 'Hotel' environment.

Any thoughts or experiences of this would be REALLY appreciated!

Robo

[Delight]

I would suggest that the developer has decided not to sell some apartments and keep them for himself-furnish them and then offer them as hotel rooms.

Of course you as a co -owner will have to pay maintenance fees- as will the developer

Are those fees being used to provide staff for the servicing of 'his'rooms'?

Unlikely that your room will get the same treatment.

Will the building Manager be the Hotel Receptionist?

Nobody has ever explained the concept ,from a legal point of view, of a building which is part condo and part hotel.

For certain you will not be able to change this format until you become a co -owner.

On the positive side you may end up with a well managed condo-given that it is in the developer's interest to attain this.

[casualbiker]

Well currently there are NO ROOMS available

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[hhgz]

"Nobody has ever explained the concept ,from a legal point of view, of a building which is part condo and part hotel."

Perhaps not, but there are several properties marketed as "condotels". Regardless, the OP should speak with the developer.

[trogers]

...this company 'Habitats' is going to use 50 Condos in our building as Hotel rooms. Why is that bad?

And what % is that 50 units in your condo building? 20%, 30% or more?

Living quality would probably be lowered with crowds in the lobby and pool, and the present 'rich' tourists are from emerging countries...

[moradave]

The Markland in Pattaya is a large Condotel. No problem as far as condo rooms are concerned, since they are on separate floors from 12 up thru 26. However, the lower 4 room floors (8-11) are sometimes rented as hotel rooms to large groups of Asian tourists who tend to congregate in the lobby and other public areas. This may, or may not, be a problem depending on the type (such as single men/couples) and country of origin of the tourists.

My Thai wife an I had no problem with it during our 15 month stay there.

[trajan]

RoboLB, you mentioned 50 units will be used as a hotel?

In Tower A, there is a total of 446 residential units

In Tower B, there is a total of 489 residential units

so 50 units is about 5% of the overall number of units...not that overwhelming

Do you have any idea: (a) if the 50 units are all contiguous in a discrete zone (with separate entrance/exit) and (b) whether developer (Ananda) will operate the hotel?

If so, I think it may be possible for developer to:

(c) legally amend the construction permit (to include "hotel use" for the discrete area);

(d) make sure the condo articles designate such units for commercial use; and

(e) ultimately obtain a hotel license (which they legally need if they are offering overnight stays to strangers for payment).

[MMarlow]

...this company 'Habitats' is going to use 50 Condos in our building as Hotel rooms. Why is that bad?

And what % is that 50 units in your condo building? 20%, 30% or more?

Living quality would probably be lowered with crowds in the lobby and pool, and the present 'rich' tourists are from emerging countries...

Why would there be crowds in the pool and the lobby? The number of occupiers would be the same regardless of whether the room was used as a condo or as a hotel room.

[JeremyBowskill]

...this company 'Habitats' is going to use 50 Condos in our building as Hotel rooms. Why is that bad?

And what % is that 50 units in your condo building? 20%, 30% or more?

Living quality would probably be lowered with crowds in the lobby and pool, and the present 'rich' tourists are from emerging countries...

Why would there be crowds in the pool and the lobby? The number of occupiers would be the same regardless of whether the room was used as a condo or as a hotel room.

Probably because if these people were travelling as a group then they would have set meeting times and also set break times between tours etc, as opposed to normal residents who would be unlikely to all meet up and do stuff at the same time. Also if condos are privately owned there would likely be points i.e low season when the rooms would be vacant for long periods, where as it wouldn't be in the building owners interest to have empty rooms, so may offer low rates in off season to try and keep them full. I agree with OP, living in a condotel would not suit me either.

[Suradit69]

...this company 'Habitats' is going to use 50 Condos in our building as Hotel rooms. Why is that bad?

And what % is that 50 units in your condo building? 20%, 30% or more?

Living quality would probably be lowered with crowds in the lobby and pool, and the present 'rich' tourists are from emerging countries...

Why would there be crowds in the pool and the lobby? The number of occupiers would be the same regardless of whether the room was used as a condo or as a hotel room.

Yes, in our building (in Pattaya) during the high season there are slightly longer waits for elevators & a few more people at the pool, etc., but many/most of those greater numbers of people are owners who spend the winter months here and undoubtedly some are people renting units. This year some of them are Bangkok residents who own units and have decided to put grandma here out of harms way, just as they did during the floods.

As you say, whether the unit is occupied by an owner or renter, he/she/they are still going to use the elevators, lobby and pool. Occasionally short-term renters may be in party-mode while here, but then one or two of the full-time residents seem to be permanently anesthetized too,

Edited February 13, 2014 by Suradit69

[Johnnie99]

Just budge up and share that bed!

[mortenaa]

In my condo, people are complaining about long time renters. So I would be careful moving in to a "hotel". Personally, I would change my mind and break the contract.

[dotpoom]

I would suggest that the developer has decided not to sell some apartments and keep them for himself-furnish them and then offer them as hotel rooms.

Of course you as a co -owner will have to pay maintenance fees- as will the developer

Are those fees being used to provide staff for the servicing of 'his'rooms'?

Unlikely that your room will get the same treatment.

Will the building Manager be the Hotel Receptionist?

Nobody has ever explained the concept ,from a legal point of view, of a building which is part condo and part hotel.

For certain you will not be able to change this format until you become a co -owner.

On the positive side you may end up with a well managed condo-given that it is in the developer's interest to attain this.

I am the co-owner of two condos..........we all pay maintenance (common fees) fees. This money is not for the benefit of my condo but for the building and surrounding area. Not sure I understand why anybody would expect their condo to get any treatment.....as stated above.

[ghworker2010]

OP its not exactly wise to reveal where you live on these forums. One can only hope that you haven't pissed anyone off in the last 57 posts.

[DGIE]

OP: We are about to buy our Condo...

For sure you mean one unit, isn't it? Not the building.

​So whatever the owner wants to the rest of unsold condos, it is his decision.

Maybe while still not sold, he wants that he earns from the condos.

That is a practice as I also know one.

So if you don't want to stay in an environment like that, it's up to you if you want to lose

your deposit if it is in the contract that deposit will be forfeited or cannot be withdrawn in case of not continuing to buy.

[seancbk]

Not sure this is any different to people buying condos for the sole purpose of then renting them out on Airbnb.com

This is becoming common practice, in fact I've been looking into doing it too.

The only difference is that the "someone" has registered a company to manage the bookings and they've got the funds to buy 50 units.

There are plenty of people in Bangkok who have the funds to buy multiple units and now they know they can use Airbnb.com to 'rent' them out by the night you'll see more of these arrangements.

[thailandbeachisland]

Buying off plan in Thailand 55555555555555555+

[saroq]

...this company 'Habitats' is going to use 50 Condos in our building as Hotel rooms. Why is that bad?

And what % is that 50 units in your condo building? 20%, 30% or more?

Living quality would probably be lowered with crowds in the lobby and pool, and the present 'rich' tourists are from emerging countries...

Why would there be crowds in the pool and the lobby? The number of occupiers would be the same regardless of whether the room was used as a condo or as a hotel room.

Because people on holiday in a hotel tend to use the facilities more than people who are permanent residents in a building.

[Showbags]

Think of all thebabes coming and going and lounging by the pool....

I can understand if this complaint by the OP was just sugar coating for the missus...

[Showbags]

I would suggest that the developer has decided not to sell some apartments and keep them for himself-furnish them and then offer them as hotel rooms.

Of course you as a co -owner will have to pay maintenance fees- as will the developer

Are those fees being used to provide staff for the servicing of 'his'rooms'?

Unlikely that your room will get the same treatment.

Will the building Manager be the Hotel Receptionist?

Nobody has ever explained the concept ,from a legal point of view, of a building which is part condo and part hotel.

For certain you will not be able to change this format until you become a co -owner.

On the positive side you may end up with a well managed condo-given that it is in the developer's interest to attain this.

I am the co-owner of two condos..........we all pay maintenance (common fees) fees. This money is not for the benefit of my condo but for the building and surrounding area. Not sure I understand why anybody would expect their condo to get any treatment.....as stated above.

He is talking about preferential treatment in that the staff that his fees go to pay to maintain the property...are used and diverted to take care of the 'hotel' condos, so less time maintaining the entire property as expected and poaid for by the individual. I would guarantee the management and owner of the hotel condos, would do this.

[JesseFrank]

LK does the same here in Pattaya with most of their new builds, where they keep 51% and run it as a hotel, while the other 49% is sold to foreigners solely.

[Delight]

LK does the same here in Pattaya with most of their new builds, where they keep 51% and run it as a hotel, while the other 49% is sold to foreigners solely.

Sounds like a sensible arrangement.

Does the hotel part have separate facilities -i.e entrance -pool -office gym etc.?

[falkan]

Buying off plan in Thailand 55555555555555555+

worked out really good for me!

[isawasnake]

It is going to become much more common for people to use places like airbnb to rent out, by the night/week/month/year, their condos. It may become more common to try and stop owners from doing this as well, but I see it as a trend that is on the increase for travelers nowadays, and for good reason. In short, I would not worry about your situation too much, these rooms in these condo buildings, especially in Thailand with a total lack of enforceability, are going to be rented out no matter what.

[Cosmo88]

Buying off plan in Thailand 55555555555555555+

worked out really good for me!

Me too, there's nothing wrong in buying off-plan per se, unless you buy from cowboy developers or forget to focus on location. In fact, in some cases, off-plan can turn out to be a good investment, even in Thailand.