Six Senses Soneva Branded Residences Creating Niche Offering

Opening this October the 42 key Soneva Kiri luxury resort on Koh Kood is creating a buzz for many industry watchers. In addition to the hotel there are 20 four bedroom and 1 six bedroom residence priced from US$4.5 million up to $7.5 million which offer usage and rental yield programs by the hotel.

While the island getaway certainly creates an aura of privacy and a unique offering; access is mainly by private plane that takes an hour from Suvanabhumi to a nearby island and then speedboat. Operating costs will be significant so it remains to be seen how the offering will measure up in terms of financial returns. Both seasonality and overhead expenses will challenge the limited critical mass of the resort.
In the meantime branded hotel real estate remains thriving in Asia unlike other parts of the world, though the results are yet to be seen in terms of returns to investors for many of these smaller resorts in tertiary markets.