Banyan Tree to manage new resort in Bali

By Ng Shing Yi, Channel NewsAsia, 08 December 2006

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts will manage a new resort in Bali, Indonesia.

The Banyan Tree Ungasan Resort has just been launched by Indonesian developer, PT Surya Semesta Internusa Group.

Perched upon a 70-metre cliff, the high-end 10-hectare US$30 million resort comprises 73 villas which are being offered for sale to prospective investors.

250 socialite guests, plucked from The Link Group's VIP client base, were invited as potential buyers at the launch of the resort.

The villas are priced from US$650,000 for a one-bedroom suite to US$2.7 million for a presidential villa.

Under the terms of the sale, investors will lease their units back to the resort operator.

Johannes Suriadjaja, President Director of PT Surya Semesta Internusa Group, said: "We are also providing a guaranteed yield of 8% for the first 2 years. Afterwards, we're going to give a sharing of the room revenues, of about 40%, to investors. That will work out to a yield of 7%-8%, eventually. Our target market will be 70% from overseas investors and 30% from domestic investors."

For visitors, units at the Banyan Tree Ungasan Resort will be priced at about US$600 a night.

That puts the resort in the same upscale market as competitors such as the Bvlgari Resort, the Four Seasons Resort and the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Resort.

But the resort is hoping to draw in visitors with its Asian design and ambience.

Paul Tavuzzi, Director of PeddleThorp Architects, said: "What we've tried to do is to develop a concept that is international in presentation, lifestyle, service and quality, but at the same time, to embrace all the qualities of the Balinese culture. When you walk through the Ungasan Bali resort, it will be somewhat similar to a Balinese village."

Despite the fear of terrorist attacks in Bali, the Surya Internusa believes the risks to its property investment remain limited.

Mr Johannes Suriadjaja said: "For the first half of this year, we have seen tourist market slow down. But it is picking up and almost back to normal, as if prior to the bombing itself, on the second half of this year. Right now the number of tourists, foreign tourists basically, that come through the airport in Bali has picked up to 4,000 tourists a day. That will come up to one and a half million annualized per year."

Full construction of the resort starts next year and completion is targeted at the first quarter of 2008.