PHUKET: Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has appointed its key managers to launch Angsana Laguna Phuket, the flagship property that is to replace the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket.

Phuket's Angsana, being remodelled now at a cost of 500 million baht, is set to open on December 1.

Mr Jerry John has been appointed as General Manager, Mr Ed Diluca as Resident Manager and Mr Luhu Winarno as Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms.

Mr John's most recent posting has been at the neighboring Banyan Tree Phuket Resort, where he has been closely involved in planning for the new Angsana Laguna Phuket.

Many of the key features of the old Sheraton, which opened more than 20 years ago on a strip of land with lagoons on both sides and Bang Tao beach at one end, will be retained.

However, most of the more-than-400 rooms are to be upgraded and a beach club and improved kids' club are part of the planning.

The resort's winding 400-metre swimming pool, which enables some guests to dive straight in from their rooms, is to be retained.

Some senior Sheraton staff will move on but all other staff are to be retained and retrained during the reconstruction phase which began on July 1.

The Angsana is not the first resort to bear that name but the Phuket resort is destined to become the flagship for the brand.

Many of the resort's service standards are to be overseen by the Banyan Tree, which is the flagship for the Banyan Tree global empire.

The relationship between Starwood's Sheraton brand and the Laguna Phuket destination resort, where seven branded resorts are situated, has always been good.

But it was felt to be less than commercially sensible for the brand managers to stay on-board during the time it will take for the new resort to emerge.