Minor Hotels: 2025 results and the UAE pipeline, from Dubai to Umm Al Quwain
Editorial
Minor Hotels, the hospitality arm of Thailand’s Minor International, reported core profit of THB 6.84 billion for 2025, up 32%, on core revenue of THB 133.2 billion, down 1%. The company says its portfolio now has more than 640 properties; Wikipedia gives more than 550 hotels in over 55 countries. The profit increase, according to the company, came mainly from lower net finance costs and below-the-line items such as lease accounting and foreign exchange.
The group
Minor International reported core revenue of THB 165.5 billion for 2025, up 3%, and core net profit of THB 9.7 billion, up 16%, according to a Quartr earnings summary. Minor Hotels supplied 80% of the revenue and 73% of core profit, and the Minor Food restaurant business the rest. The group figures come from a third-party summary and have not been checked against the filing.
How it grew
William Heinecke, an American-born Thai businessman, founded Minor Holdings in 1967 and opened the Royal Garden Resort in Pattaya in 1978, the company’s first hotel. The first Anantara opened in Hua Hin in 2001. In 2011 Minor bought a majority of Oaks Hotels, Resorts & Suites and launched Avani. It formed the NH Collection brand in 2014, bought 94.1% of NH Hotel Group in 2018, and in 2022 bought all of Corbin & King, renaming it The Wolseley Hospitality Group. Heinecke chairs Minor International; Forbes has put him among Thailand’s twenty richest men in 2025.
Dillip Rajakarier joined in 2007 as chief finance and investment officer, became chief operating officer in 2008, chief executive of Minor Hotels in 2011 and group chief executive of Minor International in January 2020. Minor’s biographical material says the NH deal helped grow the portfolio from 161 properties to more than 560.
UAE hotels and projects
Anantara, Avani and Oaks all have properties in the UAE. In Dubai, Anantara Downtown Dubai Hotel has been renovated across its 252 rooms and suites, which range from 52 square metres to 235 square metres, and Minor listed the relaunch as expected in the first quarter of 2026. It adds a new lobby, upgraded meeting space including a ballroom for up to 550 people, and a signature restaurant called Ziya. The sources reviewed give no confirmed reopening date.
In October 2026 Minor Hotels announced Anantara Siniya Island Resort & Residences in Umm Al Quwain, planned for 2030 with 125 hotel keys and 125 Anantara-branded residences. The developer is Sobha Al Siniya FZC, a joint venture between Sobha Realty and Umm Al Quwain Properties. Amir Golbarg, Minor Hotels’ chief operating officer for the Middle East and Africa, signed for the company, and Sheikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, the Crown Prince of Umm Al Quwain, attended the groundbreaking. It will be Anantara’s first property in the emirate.
Minor also planned four new GCC openings in 2026 across the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, according to Arabian Business, including the debut of both Avani and Tivoli in Bahrain and Tivoli La Vie Muscat in Oman. A Minor Hotels executive secretary vacancy in Dubai is listed on this site.