'Private villas part of strategy to capture luxury mart'

KUALA LUMPUR: The Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa in Johor plans to build several units of private villas to capture the luxury market.

The resort sits on a 10.5ha site, of which only a fifth has been utilised.

"We are in the midst of planning an expansion in the resort. We are looking at villas with private swimming pools," its general manager Azmi Sharuddin said.

The villas, which are aimed at capturing luxury holidaymakers, are expected to be ready in about two years.

"We have not decided if we want to sell the villas or if we will own and operate them," Azmi said.

The move will be strategic as the Pulai Desaru is located directly next to Khazanah Nasional Bhd's Desaru Coast development.

Khazanah, through Destination Resorts and Themed Attractions & Resorts, is building a 1,780ha integrated luxury destination with the first phase targeted for completion in 2014.

Meanwhile, not far away, Themed Attractions is building two themes parks, namely Ocean Quest and Ocean Splash.

Once completed, these projects are expected to make Desaru vibrant and attract more visitors. With that, Pulai Desaru wants to capitalise on the anticipated increase in tourists arrivals there.

Pulai Desaru's history can be traced when it was built by Japan-based construction company Fujiko Cio Ltd. It was then named Desaru Perdana Beach Resort. The hotel was bought over by Datuk Chua Jui Leng in 2004 and renamed Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa.

This resort is part of the listed Pulai Springs Bhd, which also operates the Pulai Springs Resort in Johor.

The listed entity is now controlled by the Mah family from Penang.

By Business Times