Admiral’s Pub and Restaurant moved a big step closer to re-opening in Bangkok when the owners of the restaurant group, Wanna and Bent Laasholdt on Friday 13 July 2011 signed a Management Agreement with the owners of Hotel Mermaid on Sukhumvit Soi 29, Jørgen Lundbæk and his Indian business partner ‘Pete’ Parupkarsingh Singsachtep.
The signing ceremony took place in the coming pub of the hotel, which was under decoration. Still wearing their hard hats, the four partners sealed the deal with a glass of champagne. The third partner in the new hotel, Anker Stensig Andersen, was not present.
“The agreement allows us to run all Food & Beverage business in the hotel, the pub, the restaurant, room service, and outside catering,” explained Bent Laasholdt about the contract which runs for initially 3 plus 3 years.
Bent and Wanna expect the Pub to be ready for a soft opening on 1 September 2011. The restaurant will then follow on 1 November, when also the Hotel Mermaid will be ready to open for guests.
In many ways, the new premises of The Admiral’s Pub and Restaurant are an improvement compared to the old place in Sukhumvit Soi 18 from where the restaurant was forced to move out several years ago as the owner wanted to build a condominium.
“The pub and bar is completely separated from the restaurant and much bigger than what we had upstairs in the old restaurant,” Bent Laasholdt explains while showing around.
“The restaurant is divided into an indoor area with seats for 80 guests and the outside area has seats for another 80 guests. In the middle by the stairs there will be the breakfast buffet serving both areas.”
The outdoor restaurant is called the Boat Deck, following the traditional marine style interior design with turn of the century images on the walls like the other Admiral’s Pub and Restaurants.
There will be a large wine cellar and in a separate basement room the draft beer system will be installed from where cooled pipes will lead the beer to the tapping stations in the pub and restaurant.
The basic structure of Hotel Mermaid is a 30 year old building, which Jørgen Lundbæk and his partners have been completely renovating over the past year. All interior walls have been removed and re-erected, all pipes and electricity installations are brand new, here will be new elevators serving all floors and the rooms will be modern and luxuriously decorated.
Corner rooms will all have connecting doors to the next room which will make it ideal for families. Corner rooms will also be fitted with bathtubs while all other rooms have shower cabins.
From the rooftop terrace, which will be ideal for midsized functions like Chamber network evenings, there is a clear view of the building in Soi 27, where Jørgen Lundbæk at first planned to build the hotel.
Jørgen Lundbæk himself owns 52 percent of the hotel while his two partners, “Pete” and Anker Stensig Andersen own the remaining shares.
Jørgen Lundbæk was for many years partner also in the Hotel Stable Lodge, but he has recently old his part of the hotel to he Norwegian Ole Teigen, formerly related to the Thoresen Group.
