Regent hotel chain returns to Indonesia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/08/2008 11:52 AM

The Regent hotel chain is set to return to Indonesia to manage and market a new luxury property to be built by Grand Pacific Properties Ltd. (GPP) on a four-hectare estate on Sanur beach, Bali, with a total investment of between US$75 million and US$100 million.

Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific Pty., which owns the Regent brandname, signed agreements with GPP in Singapore last week covering hotel development services, hotel management and marketing trade licenses.

"The five-star Regent Bali will consist of 150 rooms and 50 villas, each equipped with a private swimming pool," said Victoria Tahir, managing director of GPP and the third daughter of Tahir, chairman of the Mayapada business group, in a press release in Jakarta on Monday. 

The Regent Bali will be the first five-star property in the Sanur beach area. 

Bali, Indonesia's most popular tourist destination, received around 160,000 foreign tourists in February, representing a rise of almost 30 percent from the same period last year, according to the Central Statistics Agency. 

Total tourist arrivals in the country in February were 446,400, up 15.82 percent from a year earlier. 

Victoria said GPP would also develop separate luxury villas, called the Regent Residences, near The Regent Bali complex. 

"The Regent's return to Indonesia reflects a stronger investor confidence in the outlook of Bali as a favorite destination for global tourists, and we are glad to contribute to this momentum of growth," Victoria said. 

The Regent once managed a five-star hotel in the Kuningan area in Jakarta but withdrew a few years ago. The property is now managed by the Four Seasons hotel chain.