Nikki Beach Branding of New Phuket Hotel

Global lifestyle brand Nikki Beach has teamed up with Singapore's Castlewood Group on a new Phuket development.
Described as the "sexiest place on earth" by the London Observer, Nikki Beach now have twelve prime locations at such hot spots as St Barthes, Miami Beach, Marbella and Mallorca in Spain and St Tropez.
Other specialties include big events like the Cannes Film Festival and a mobile set up at the 2012 Nikki Beach branding of new Phuket hotel London Olympics.
A wide range of branded products include clothing, a music label and a growing hotel footprint.
In Phuket the Nikki Beach Hotel and Spa will be located on the fringe of Bangtao, in Layan near to Laguna Village.
The upscale hotel, forecast to open in 2013, will feature 151 suites and 23 "sky villas" with private pools.
A separate beach club at another location is set to be announced soon and expectations are great for the high-profile destination club.
In Koh Samui, Nikki already has an existing beach-front operation.
Driving Nikki's Asia development strategy has been a deal with Castlewood to grow the brand by targeting openings in Bali, Singapore, Hainan, Langkawi and a hotel in Samui next to the existing club.
Castlewood, which was established in Dubai in 2006 and relocated to Singapore, has a core business model for development, marketing and investment sales to individuals.
It has taken a business model similar to private equity investment and applied this on a broader scale.
For Phuket, they will tap into a pool of individual investors who can opt for a guaranteed return of five per cent for eight years or else variable returns, which potentially offer higher returns but also carry return risks.
Entry pricing points start at just over US$60,000.
Castlewood will dispose of the asset in 2020 but offers early investors an exit in 2016.
The investment horizon for the hotel would be similar to private equity funds with a cyclical build of operating results, stabilization of the hotel and an exit on recurring cash flow and ideally a strong forward operating potential.
American Title Insurance is insuring investment units and the asset has been placed into a third party trust under Intercontinental Trust Group.
The trust deed will in place until 2020 when the hotel will be sold.