Grand Opening October 2013
Most residents of Hua Hin and Cha-Am will have driven past The Venezia Development over past months and seen the buildings take shape and colour. Some may also have called in to check out what is in store as the tenants establish their outlets and business gets under way. Although trade has already commenced with 80% occupation, we will have to wait until October (date to be confirmed) when the Grand Opening will announce to the Region (and to the rest of Thailand) that The Venezia has arrived in style!
S-design Co.,Ltd is the Company behind this development expanding its business into real estate and investing more than 1.2 billion baht. The project is a fresh concept of a Venice Lifestyle Destination that offers all-in-one services such as restaurants, fashion village, banks, mini zoo, and many more within a Venice style building and surrounds. About 13 million visitors a year are anticipated.
What’s In a Name?
Venezia is the Italian spelling of Venice, Italy. This revered City is famous worldwide as a very important tourist destination and is renowned for the following attributes:
Architecture – A rich and diverse architectural style, the most famous of which is the Gothic style.
Music & the Performing Arts – During the 16th century, Venice became one of the most important musical centres of Europe.
Interior Design – It can be argued that Venice produced the best and most refined Rococo designs.
Fashion & Shopping – Venice is a major fashion and shopping centre in Italy, on a par with Turin, Vicenza and Naples.
Cuisine – Venetian cuisine is characterised by seafood, but also includes garden products from the islands of the lagoon, rice from the mainland, game, and polenta. Venice combines local traditions with influences that are distant.
Literature – Venice has long been a source of inspiration for authors, poets and playwrights as well as being at the forefront of the technical developing of printing and publishing.
Art & Printing – Venice, especially during the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque, was a major centre of art and developed a unique style known as the Venetian School. In the Middle-Ages and the Renaissance, Venice, along with Florence and Rome, became one of the most important centres of art in Europe.
Glass – Venice is famous for its ornate glass-work, known as Venetian glass. It is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skilfully made.
Festivals – The Carnival of Venice is held annually in the city, starting around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday. The carnival is closely associated with Venetian masks.
The Venice Biennale is one of the most important events in the arts calendar. The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world.
Venice has been described it in The New York Times as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man” and by the Times Online as being “one of Europe’s most romantic cities”.
Wow!…………. that’s a lot to live up; but now we can understand the inspiration behind this outstanding new feature on the Hua Hin and Cha-Am landscape.
Visually we can already see some the architectural style and design that has made Venice such an iconic European destination. Plans are also on hand to provide some of the art and other cultural experiences within the recreated Piazza San Marco including the famous St Mark’s Campanile and Basilica. Of course a trip to Venice would always include experiencing gondolas on the waterways (the word gondola is of Venetian etymology) and riding on horse drawn carriages. Additionally we can expect some of the elements of the famous Venetian Festivals commencing with the Grand Opening in the near future.
But What About the Fashion & Shopping and Cuisine?
Perhaps we need to wait until The Venezia is really fully operating but the signs are already there that visitors will soon be able to ‘shop till they drop’ with 361 retailers occupying retail space over an area of 46 Rai (or more than 20,000 square metres.
If you have judged the size and extent of the development by the road frontage you should be aware that Venezia is twice as deep as it is wide covering the full area until the railway line at the rear of the property.
The area is divided into four main zones:
1) Food and beverage zone – pub & restaurants, trendy restaurants, international food chains, famous local restaurants, coffee and bakery shops, etc.
2) Leading local and international fashion zone
3) Services zone – supermarket, banks, IT services, spa, bookstores, etc.
4) Arts and decor zone
The cuisine offered includes sophisticated wine bar restaurants, steakhouses and many other choices of international dining opportunities. Alternatively less formal snacks, not from the usual franchise fast foods but from locally developed, unique food outlets.
Fashion covers a huge selection of famous brands and design lables as well as Thailand’s own developing brands with travellers able to find something quite different from those brands they already know well from their home country.
It’s really impossible to list the individual retail experiences that will soon be fully operational. Some large, some small, some in enclosed lanes, some fronting open promenades. Safe to say a day will never be enough to fully appreciate the shopping and dining experiences that await locals and visitors to the Venezia.
Other Features Soon To Include:
- A special activities zone of more than 4,000 square metres with a 23 metre high panorama-view tower.
- Many special activities including Gondola rides, a Mini-Train service which runs around the Venezia, Mini Zoo, Playground, and a Morning Market.
- 2,000 parking lots and a shuttle bus service.
Our Expectations?
Very soon The Venezia will be flooded with eager visitors; not only shoppers with high fashion and culinary tastes, but those wanting a different Mediterranean cultural experience. Cameras will be snapping at a rapid rate and young Thai couples are likely to be at the forefront of the wave.
Our first experience at The Venezia was facilitated by the Business Development Manager Piyarat Kaewkaw. The high profile and the current demands of the development’s final stages doesn’t allow her much free time for a public relations role and she explained that she misses many phone calls just because it is constantly engaged.
Giving Hua Hin and Cha-Am Today her time and insights was very much appreciated. We expect to be making many more trips to The Venezia before too long to explain more about how it is becoming one of our most significant Regional attractions.
Footnote: Wondering about that nude male figure on the Venezia promenade, about life-size, sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though deep in thought? This is usually known as The Thinker, a sculpture by Auguste Rodin, often used as an image to represent philosophy
