Eastern hospitality makes its mark in the Americas

A Singapore-based leisure chain that has popularized new-age spa resorts in Asia is branching out to Mexico in an ambitious bid to export Oriental style and hospitality to the Americas.

The Banyan Tree group is investing US$250 million to US$300 million to develop two resort and residential projects -- one in Acapulco facing the Pacific Ocean, the other in Riviera Maya looking out to the Caribbean Sea.

The two projects will fuse Mexican and Asian influences and feature Banyan Tree's trademark garden spas and villas with their own pools, distinctive features that have turned it into one of Asia's top premium resort chains.

From a modest start in Phuket, Thailand, Banyan Tree has now sprouted other sanctuary-style resorts in Indonesia's Bintan island, the Maldives, the Seychelles and Bangkok, and is eyeing expansion in Morocco and China.

Altogether, the group -- named after a sprawling Asian tree that spreads by growing new roots from its branches -- manages 15 hotels, 35 spas and two golf courses in a dozen countries.

None are in Singapore, a tiny island that boasts no pristine beaches or mountains but is blessed with plenty of capital and business know-how.

Banyan Tree resorts, which claim to be ecologically friendly, typically charge between US$400 and US$700 a night.

Their signature style includes traditional Asian architecture and decor in lush natural settings, a laid-back atmosphere, discreet service and sensual treats like aromatherapy, a formula now copied by countless other resorts.

Its very first venture was a pioneering spa resort built on a ravaged tin-mining site in the Thai island of Phuket that had been written off by UN environmental experts as impossible to rehabilitate.

Ho, a onetime business journalist whose wife, former member of the Singapore parliament Claire Chiang, helps run the business, has been credited with helping transform Asia's tourism landscape.

"I guess there are certain attributes that we think have made us unique," Ho, 52, said. "We are not about luxury, we are not about crystal chandeliers and silver spoons and stuff."