Avani Singapore Hotel names Judd Rabbidge as GM

Minor Hotels appoints Judd Rabbidge as general manager of Avani Singapore Hotel, the group's first property in the city, ahead of its Q2 2027 opening.

The 200-key hotel is rising at 24 Peck Seah Street in Tanjong Pagar, a short walk from the Central Business District and Chinatown. It marks Avani's entry into Singapore and Minor Hotels' first hotel in the city under any of its brands.

Avani Singapore Hotel rises near the CBD

My priority is to build a strong team and create a hotel experience that reflects Avani's personality.

The 14-storey property will carry Avani's mid-scale lifestyle format: a pool deck, an AvaniFit gym, several dining concepts and a pedestrian link joining Peck Seah Street to Tras Street. Minor Hotels has not disclosed the investment behind the build.

Rabbidge moves from Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort, where he has been general manager since July 2024. Before that, he was hotel manager at W Sydney during its pre-opening and launch, a 588-room property that remains the world's largest W Hotel.

"Having led Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort, I am excited to take on a new challenge with the brand in Singapore," Rabbidge said. "My priority is to build a strong team and create a hotel experience that reflects both Avani's personality and the character of the city."

His brief covers recruitment, operational readiness, commercial strategy and guest experience, alongside work with regional teams on positioning Avani Singapore Hotel within a crowded Tanjong Pagar hospitality strip.

An Australian with a launch record

Rabbidge is Australian, with more than 20 years across Australia, the Maldives, Indonesia, Fiji and Europe. He was director of sales and marketing at W Bali – Seminyak between 2018 and 2022, and has held operational roles with Marriott properties and Mantra Group. He trained at the Pacific International Hotel Management School in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Singapore's hotel pipeline keeps drawing lifestyle brands into its central districts, from Robertson Quay to Tanjong Pagar, the same stretch where a Hong Kong taco brand opened its first local outpost this month. Minor Hotels already runs Anantara and Avani properties across Southeast Asia; Avani Singapore Hotel fills a gap in a portfolio built mostly around resort markets.

The appointment also lands in a busy stretch for hotel leadership moves, days after London's Waldorf Hilton named its own new general manager. Avani Singapore Hotel is due to open in the second quarter of 2027, and Rabbidge will spend the months before then building the team that runs it.