American hotel chain The Standard plans to expand to Phuket, Hua Hin and Bangkok's Thong Lor, with 150 rooms each, developing residences for sale at the two beach destinations after SET-listed developer Sansiri Plc invested US$58 million (1.9 billion baht) in the company last year.

Amar Lalvani, chief executive of parent firm Standard International, said the hotel in Phuket will be a renovation of an existing hotel with 50 rooms near Banana Beach, opening by 2020.

"Apart from the renovation, we plan to build 100 new rooms at the Phuket hotel and develop 50 units, including villas and condos for sale under The Standard Residence brand on remaining plots nearby owned by the existing hotel's owner," Mr Lalvani said.

The second destination will be Hua Hin. Plans call for building 150 condo units for sale, to be operated as hotel rooms under The Standard Residence, opening in 2021.

Thong Lor will be the third location in Thailand with 150 rooms, all of which will be new and strictly for hotel operations, opening in 2021.

"Sansiri will seek investors to invest in each site," Mr Lalvani said. "The investment of $58 million with us last year can help us expand from the current five locations to 20 in the next five years."

The Standard started with its first hotel in Hollywood in 1999 and expanded to downtown Los Angeles, Miami and two sites in New York with more than 900 rooms combined. Occupancy runs about 85%, 82%, 79%, 91% and 90%, respectively.

The first quarter of next year will see the opening of The Standard in King's Cross, London with 262 rooms. This will be a renovation and the first location outside the US. Average daily rate is expected to be £305 (13,130 baht), with revenue per available room of £260.

Apichart Chutrakul, Sansiri's chief executive, said The Standard was one of six companies in which it invested last year with total spending of $80 million. The investment of $58 million in the hotel company made Sansiri one of the major shareholders with a 35% stake.

Among the six firms, Sansiri invested in Singaporean co-working space operator JustCo, which got an investment of $177 million in May from Singapore-based Frasers Property, owned by the Sirivadhanabhakdi family, and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Both became major shareholders of JustCo with a 50% combined stake, while Sansiri, which injected $12 million last year, holds a 6.09% stake.

SIRI shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 1.52 baht, down one satang, in trade worth 84 million baht.