Two ‘landmark’ Raffles Cambodia hotels bought by Lodgis Hospitality Holdings

Two historic Raffles branded ‘landmark’ hotels in Cambodia have been sold to Lodgis Hospitality Holdings.

Lodgis now owns the largest collection of luxury historic hotels in the Indochina region with the acquisition of the Raffles Hotel Le Royal Phnom Penh and the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor Siem Reap.

The acquisitions for undisclosed sums are the first deals by Lodgis outside Vietnam.

Lodgis was established two years ago with $300 million from private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Vietnam-based investment firm VinaCapital.

It has acquired and developed several city hotels and beachfront resorts in Vietnam, including the 365-key Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi, rated as the top performing hotel in Vietnam.

The historic hotels in Cambodia are both 1930s buildings, which were fully restored and re-opened under the Raffles brand in 1997.

The 175-room Raffles Le Royal is centrally located in the capital city of Phnom Penh, adjacent to the US Embassy.

The 119-room Raffles Grand d’Angkor is in the heart of the old French Quarter of the resort destination of Siem Reap.

The two properties will undergo select renovations, including upgrading guest rooms and food and drink outlets.

Lodgis chief executive Peter Meyer said: “We are very excited with the acquisition of the two historic Raffles hotels in Cambodia.

“Together with the Metropole in Hanoi, Lodgis now owns an irreplaceable Indochina heritage hotel portfolio that allows us to achieve significant synergies on both marketing and operations to better serve the rapidly-developing tourism market across Indochina.

“We see tremendous upside potential for both assets with a highly targeted capital expenditure programme to transform the hotels back to their grand stature.”

Cambodia recorded 5.6 million international visitor arrivals last year, representing year-on-year growth of almost 12%. Phnom Penh and Siem Reap attracted the largest share of international visitors.