AN EARLIER-than-expected takeover of the management of The Datai, Langkawi has caught the resort’s staff by surprise. Overseas tour operators contacted by TTG Asia e-Daily are also in the dark as to whom the new management company, Archipelago Hotels & Resorts, is and whether the resort’s quality and style will remain consistent.
The Datai was managed over the past 17 years by Singapore-based General Hotel Management (GHM), which put it on the map as one of Malaysia’s foremost hotels.
Archipelago took over on July 28 (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 28). But a source at the hotel said while the change was impending, staff had expected it to happen only by the end of the year.
Last year, Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s investment holding arm, bought a 70 per cent stake in Teluk Datai Resorts, the owners of The Datai, and subsequently formed Archipelago, its own hotel management company.
Franz Zeller, who was Taj Luxury Hotels Resorts and Palaces senior vice president and COO, has been appointed managing director of Archipelago, and a corporate team to grow the portfolio has been assembled.
A luxury tour operator based in Singapore said no one from The Datai had contacted him yet about the change, while a UK luxury tour operator was concerned about “consistency of quality and style” following the change.
The new GM at Datai is Anthony Sebastian.
Contacted by TTG Asia e-Daily, Archipelago’s Zeller assured tour operators that the new management company would continue the resort’s successful journey.
“All of the associates of The Datai are retained and our guests can expect the same warmth of hospitality and commitment to excellence that they have come to expect,” he said.
– Read more in TTG Asia, August 5 issue
