The 255-key resort, formerly the Laguna Beach Resort (LBR), was bought from Banyan Tree in July this year and then closed for extensive renovations. It is set to reopen on April 1 next year.
Mr Berger, a German national and lifetime hotelier, has a long history with the resort. He was executive assistant manager from 2002 to 2004. He then worked for three years at the Sukhothai Bangkok and the Al Bustan Rotan Hotel in Dubai, before returning as GM of the LBR in 2007.
During the renovations he has stayed on to oversee the work.
The Outrigger Phuket Beach Resort will be the second Outrigger property in Laguna Phuket, joining the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas, which the company has managed since August 2009.
Renovation is in the hands of three international architectural and interior design companies, Poole Associates, P49 Deesign and Hassell, all of which have extensive portfolios of high-end hotel work, suggesting that the rather tired LBR will, when it reopens, become a must-go place in Phuket.
When it opens, the resort will have a spa, tennis courts, meeting and conference rooms, extensive water features and slides, a resort pool, a fully equipped gym, and a children’s club.
It will also, Outrigger boasts, “be the only property in the Laguna Phuket destination resort to have a dedicated club lounge for travellers looking for additional personal service and privacy”.
Hawaii-based Outrigger has been making a big push into Asia-Pacific in the past five years and now has more than 45 hotels and properties open or under development in the region.