The five-star resort, with 87 villas, 20 residences and five “hideaway homes”, will be on Tri Trang Beach (referred to by Rosewood as “Emerald Bay”), just to the north of the Merlin Beach Resort.
Although construction has not yet begun, Rosewood already knows what it will be like: “All private and public areas will blend interiors and exteriors with retractable glass walls. Cantilevered structures will meld with the landscape.
“Green rooftops of living plants will not only provide energy conservation but uninterrupted sightlines to the Andaman Sea.”
Little hard information is available yet.
The land and the properties to be built on it are owned by Thai companies Emerald Bay Resort Co and Emerald Bay Villas Co.
The Phuket News asked Maggie Leung of New World how much the resort will cost and what the room rates are likely to be. She replied, “The budget is in the process of development,” and “We will set a room rate which is competitive with high-end resorts in the marketplace.”
The architects are Singapore-based WOHA, with Melbourne-based Bar Studio handling four of the six F&B outlets and the hideaway homes.
The 20 “tropical mansion residences”, ranging from two to nine bedrooms will be on large plots, each with “panoramic views of Emerald Bay” a private gymnasium, and a 20-metre lap pool.
“Within this very special environment, Rosewood Phuket guests will feel ‘at one’ with the land and sea,” says Radha Arora, president of Rosewood.
The resort will also have The Pavilion, “a new concept of residential-style meeting and function venue” for corporate retreats and social events of up to 300 for cocktail parties.
Founded in 1979 and sold to New World just over a year ago, Rosewood manages 19 resorts in the US and Canada, the Caribbean and the Middle East, and is due to open its first property in Asia, in Beijing, very soon.