BIG WATER — Luxury spa operator Amanresorts will run a $200 million resort near Lake Powell for wealthy world travelers.

The 100,000-square-foot spa, offering $1,200-a-night hotel rooms and villas for up to $6 million, is scheduled to open by mid-2008.

Amanresorts, a hotel-management group based in Singapore, oversees posh playgrounds around the globe, from France to French Polynesia. Its only other U.S. resort is in Wyoming's Jackson Hole.

The Kane County resort will be a quick drive from Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Guests will be able to ski Lake Powell, hike the Vermilion Cliffs and fish in the Colorado River.

"When you take into account who will manage (it), combined with the idyllic setting in canyon country, it might be the No. 1 resort in the United States and one of the top 10 in the world," said Homi Vazisdar, managing director of project developer Canyonland Development LLC.

Gov. Jon Huntsman has said the resort will bolster Utah's international appeal among jet-setters.

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

Kanab resident Jim Matson, who is overseeing Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, said crews are laying sewer and water lines. Underground propane tanks will supply gas, and a microwave tower will go up on a butte for telecommunications.

Matson said the project is expected to increase Kane County's assessed valuation by 20 percent and employ at least 110 workers to take care of guests.

"They will probably do everything for you but brush your teeth," Matson said.