Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts will take over the operations of the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket from Starwood Hotels & Resorts when the current management contract expires on 30 June 2011.

The hotel will close for a US$30m (€22m, £19m) redevelopment on 1 July 2011 and reopen as the Angsana Laguna Phuket on 1 December 2011.

The resort will become the flagship property in the Angsana portfolio and will include a large Angsana Spa. It is also the largest Angsana property with 384 bedrooms.

Arthur Kiong, managing director of Banyan Tree’s Asia Pacific operations, said: "We chose Laguna Phuket in Thailand to have our Angsana flagship property as that will drive our operation standards from a strong operations base, and to also set new benchmarks for 15 more Angsanas in the pipeline for the group."