AHMS Accepts Outrigger Offer to Buy Akaryn Samui Resort & Spa

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. June 04, 2015

KOH SAMUI, THAILAND. - June 4, 2015. AKARYN Samui Resort and Spa will become an Outrigger resort effective from May 29, 2015, according to the terms of sale agreed between AKARYN Hospitality Management Services (AHMS), the Bangkok-based owner and operator of AKARYN Samui, and Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, a global group founded in Hawaii.

AHMS founder and managing director Anchalika Kijkanakorn, who created the AKARYN brand for her flagship luxury resort on Koh Samui and who owns and/or operates three other boutique beachfront resorts that comprise AHMS - The Collection, said the sale was a strategic decision taken in response to receiving a 'very good' offer for the five star resort.

AKARYN Samui was launched in 2012, comprising promising an experience defined by 'intuitive luxury' - service that was at once anticipatory and seamless yet unobtrusive and thoughtful, and a romantic ambiance big on privacy and intimacy. , the same year AHMS - The Collection rebranded and took over operations akyra Chura Samui, an adults-only resort featuring chic and minimal design and a stunning location at the serene northern part of action-packed Chaweng Beach. AKARYN Samui enjoyed a secluded location in the very next bay, effectively a private beach for the resort which was rechristened Hanuman Bay, yet just 10 minutes' drive to Samui International Airport.

"This was a decision taken quickly but not lightly," Ms Kijkanakorn said. "AKARYN is very dear to my heart, but the offer from Outrigger was impossible to refuse. I'm proud of the fact that we took what had been a derelict site and turned it into one of the island's most exclusive, unique and successful resorts.

"It's not the end of the AKARYN brand," she said. "We are still in an expansion and acquisition phase overall, and construction is well advanced and plans on schedule to open our first property outside Thailand next year - AKARYN Koh Krabeay Retreat & Spa is a unique resort on a private island, designed by the former fashion icon Kenzo and shaping up as something very special indeed.

"We are also just about to launch akyra Manor Chiang Mai, our partnership with Singapore's Manor Studio, an all-suite hotel in Chiang Mai's hip Nimman Haemin district, and Manor Studio is also our partner in a contemporary Italian restaurant concept that will be part of the new Chiang Mai hotel but is also about to launch in Bangkok's stylish Soi Ruamrudee as a stand-alone restaurant.

"Think of this as a short break in transmission from AKARYN, but the brand will be back as we enter a period of regional growth and expansion for AHMS - The Collection and our family of brands."

It was business as usual, she said, for the collection's other resorts: Aleenta Hua Hin-Pranburi, Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga and akyra Chura Samui, while akyra Manor Chiang Mai was receiving its final touches and in the countdown to its Q2 2015 launch.

Ms Kijkanakorn said all bookings made for after May 29, 2015 at AKARYN Samui would be honoured by Outrigger, and the handover would be quick and seamless.

She said AKARN Samui's Ayurah Spa, the new spa brand launched across all AHMS - The Collection resorts last year, and F&B outlets such as Ochos Steakhouse would be phased out and folded into Outrigger's own brands and operations after the handover.

"Meantime, we remain focused on the many things we have coming up and we are actively looking at other opportunities in other regional markets besides Thailand and Cambodia," she said.

Media Contact:
Eugene Oelofse
Director of Brand Communications & PR
AHMS Hotels
+66(0) 2514 8112
[email protected]
www.aleenta.com