Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is set to manage a new luxury resort on Thailand's Phuket Island.
When it opens in 2022, the 105-guestroom Mandarin Oriental, Phuket will be located on one of the rare undeveloped beachfront sites still to be found on ‘Millionaire’s Mile' on the west coast of Phuket, Thailand's largest island. The resort will also be a 30-minute drive from the airport.
Facilities include three restaurants and bars with oceanfront settings as well as several function facilities. The resort will also have a fitness center and two outdoor swimming pools, a Kid’s Club and outdoor leisure facilities.
“Phuket is one of Asia’s leading leisure destinations and we are delighted to have found such a special site on which to develop our resort,” said James Riley, group chief executive of Mandarin Oriental said. “The Group’s established reputation and experience in delivering award-winning service and facilities at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, when combined with this stunning new property, will provide guests a unique proposition for a luxury visit to the entrancing Kingdom of Thailand. We look forward to working with our partners to create this.”
Phuket’s Appeal
The announcement of the Mandarin Oriental follows several other similar development plans for Phuket. Last week, Radisson Hotel Group announced that its upper-midscale Park Inn by Radisson brand would make its Thailand debut with the launch of a brand-new hotel in Phuket Town, the island’s provincial capital. In May, InterContinental Hotels Group and Thai real estate company Ratanakorn Asset signed a deal to open eight new properties in Thailand between now and 2027. Among these are the Holiday Inn Resort Khao Cape Pakarang near the Phuket International Airport and a Holiday Inn Express near Kata beach.
A record 8.4 million international visitors came to Phuket in 2017, making it Thailand’s most popular resort destination. The island’s expanding international airport receives direct flights from Beijing, Sydney, London, Dubai and Moscow. Katerina Giannouka, president, Asia Pacific for Radisson Hotel Group, said last week that the city is “rapidly evolving” from an upscale resort island into a diverse, all-year-round tourism destination.