Developer plans $200 million Utah resort

BIG WATER, Utah -- A $200 million resort near Lake Powell for wealthy world travelers is being built by the Asian luxury spa operator Amanresorts.

Amanresorts plans to open the 100,000-square-foot spa, offering $1,200-a-night hotel rooms and private villas priced at up to $6 million by mid-2008, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The Singapore-based group oversees posh playgrounds around the globe, from France to French Polynesia. Its only other U.S. resort is in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The resort, located amid some of America's most dramatic landscapes, will be a quick drive from Grand Canyon National Park, Glen Canyon Dam, and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Guests will be able to boat on Lake Powell, hike the Vermilion Cliffs and fish in the Colorado River.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has said the resort will bolster the state's international appeal among jet-setters, who already frequent the state's ski resorts including Snowbird and Park City.

The southern Utah resort will have a 34-room hotel, 28 private villas and a mammoth spa.

Jim Matson, a resident of nearby Kanab, who is overseeing Salt Lake City-based Okland Construction, said crews are already laying sewer and water lines and expects the project to increase the surrounding county's property valuation by 20 percent.

The development is expected to employ over 100 workers to take care of guests.

"They will probably do everything for you but brush your teeth," Matson told the paper.