Destination News - Hotel, Resort & Spa.

Mar 10, 2008

Accor

Accor has plans to build a $100 million Pullman hotel in Auckland, New Zealand by the middle of 2010. The 290-room five-star hotel will target the corporate and meetings market, and will have meeting and conference space for up to 800 persons. Accor's upscale Pullman brand is named after the luxurious 19th century Pullman railway carriages. Accor launched the brand last year and now has 12 Pullman-branded hotels in Europe and Asia. Mar 5, 2008

AnaYela

AnaYela, a 300-year-old palace in Morocco, has been converted into the upscale boutique hotel. The property officially opens to the U.S. market on March 14, following months of historic restoration and a soft opening in October 2007. AnaYela has only five rooms and suites and other features include a lounge, open-air restaurant, heated outdoor pool, terrace with views of the city and meeting spaces. A large, open parlor provides space for cocktail parties and the upper terrace accommodates 100 guests. Rates start at an average of $430 per night, based on double occupancy. For creative seminars, meetings and corporate incentives, the AnaYela can be privately rented for an average cost of $2,520 per night. Rates include local airport transfers, complimentary breakfast and use of a printer, fax, wireless Internet and broadband. Guests can also rent Dell laptops for $36 per day. Travel agents receive 10 percent commissions. Excursions to the Berber villages and nearby mountains may be booked directly through AnaYela. Visit www.anayela.com Mar 3, 2008

Aqua Coconut Plaza

The Aqua Coconut Plaza in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, will close for renovations on February 23 and re-opens on June 1 as the Coconut Waikiki Hotel. It will also be upgraded to the Aqua Boutique Collection within Aqua Hotels and Resorts, offering complimentary daily continental breakfast, local newspaper and local and toll-free calls. Work at the 81-room property includes a total makeover and upgrade of the guest rooms and lobby. New amenities will include mini-refrigerators, microwaves, coffee makers, WiFi and 40-inch LCD HD TV's. Mar 3, 2008

Aquamare

Guillermo Paz, co-owner of Aquamare, Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands said that the company has plans to build villas in Anguilla and Mystique and is currently looking into several regions in Mexico. But groundbreaking isn't expected until about 2011. All three properties, including one in an undetermined region of Mexico, will be completed sometime in the next 10 years, Paz says. Aquamare currently has one, three-villa property located in Virgin Gorda. Paz says the new additions will all be similar to the Virgin Gorda resort, which has three, five-bedroom villas with two maids for each, chefs and an onsite concierge. Paz says real estate companies have already begun work on the additional Caribbean properties while the Mexico development is still in the research phase. Aquamare is scoping the Punta Mita, Riviera Maya and Puerto Vallarta regions of Mexico for what would be its fourth property. Visit www.villaaquamare.com. Mar 3, 2008

Conservation Corporation

Conservation Corporation Africa's (CC Africa) Phinda Mountain Lodge has completed a multi-million makeover of its suites, main lodge, pool and terraces. Each of the lodge's 25 new suites has an ensuite bathroom, private sitting area and veranda complete with private plunge pool and open-air shower. The new, U-shaped main lodge has a central al fresco courtyard leading out to a shaded terrace with views of the Ubombo Mountains and surrounding grasslands. CC Africa's Phinda Private Game Reserve is situated in the Maputaland region in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, bordering the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site. Mar 3, 2008

Enchantment Group

Enchantment Group, a spa and resort development and management company, announced they will open a 30-room, spa resort along with 25 residential condominiums in Punta Mita, Mexico. The spa, Mii amo Punta Mita, is slated to open in 2010. When it opens, it will be the first destination spa in the master-planned resort community that occupies a 1,500-acre natural peninsula on Mexico's Pacific Coast. The project will be the fourth property - and the first outside the United States -- to be owned and managed by the Enchantment Group. Mar 3, 2008

Iberostar Grand Hotel

Iberostar Grand Hotel Paraiso in Mexico's Riviera Maya added 10 Honeymoon Villas as part of the property's luxury-oriented "Grand Star" service. The 10 villas are situated away from the main buildings, in a secluded enclave, offering private walled gardens with plunge pools. Upon arrival, guests are greeted by their personal butler. The "Grand Star" service also provides personalized pillow-menu selections and complimentary in-room mini-bar and liquor preferences. Spa, golf and activity appointments can also be reserved by a personal concierge. Mar 3, 2008

Luxury Lifestyle Hotels

Luxury Lifestyle Hotels & Resorts, a collection of boutique properties, announced Monday its expansion into Latin America with the addition to its portfolio of two properties in Argentina. The Lake Resort Le Sirenuse in San Carlos de Bariloche and the Recoleta Plaza Boutique Hotel in Buenos Aires are among five new members of Luxury Lifestyle Hotels & Resorts' portfolio, which now includes more than 120 properties. Other additions include Casa del Mar Beach Golf & Spa in Baja, Mexico; The Dylan Hotel in New York City; and Eurostars Blue Tulum Resort and Spa in Tulum, Mexico. Mar 4, 2008

Manava Suite Resort

South Pacific Management has announced the upcoming debut of the Manava Suite Resort Tahiti in Papeete, the portfolio's newest resort property in Tahiti. Slated for a January 2009 opening, the four-star Manava Suite Resort Tahiti in Papeete will have 114 guest rooms ranging from superior rooms to multi-bedroom duplex suites and apartments. All guest rooms will reflect authentic Polynesian d?cor, while still offering contemporary amenities and state-of-the-art technology. Rooms will also have ensuite kitchen quarters. The resort will encompass five separate buildings, with the first housing the reception area, restaurant, meetings rooms and 12 guest rooms, and the additional four housing 102 guest rooms between two floors. The resort will also have three bars, a fitness center, the island's largest infinity swimming pool facing the lagoon and nearby island of Moorea, and a second, over-water restaurant with terrace. The Manava Suite Resort Tahiti is located in the island's northwestern region, in the community of Punaauia, five minutes from Faa'a International Airport and ten minutes from the city center. Mar 3, 2008

Nakheel Hotels

Dubai-based Nakheel Hotels said that it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire a 50 percent stake of the Mexican resort, One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, based on a total enterprise value of $315 million, according to a written release. The resort is a 172-room ocean front resort managed by Kerzner International. One&Only Palmilla is located on the Southern tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula and is in close proximity to San Jose del Cabo International Airport. Nakheel Hotels is acquiring its stake from certain funds affiliated with the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, a series of real estate opportunity funds sponsored and managed by Goldman Sachs & Co, while existing joint venture partner, Kerzner International, will retain its 50 percent stake. Mar 3, 2008

Reefs Resort

The Reefs Resort in Bermuda will reopens its doors on April 1 after the initial phase of the resort's major expansion project is complete. Upon opening, The Reefs reception area will present a whole new look for your clients. At check-in, guests will now have access to comfortable seating while sipping complimentary Rum cocktails. Among the other upgrades are a new concierge desk to help guests and an expanded bar and lounge, which will now have a designated band and dancing area. The resort also has refitted and enlarged the lobby restrooms. Not all of the rooms will be open, so availability will be limited. Meanwhile, next door, The Reefs Club private residences will be under construction. Visit www.reefsclub.com. Mar 3, 2008

Starwood Hotels

Starwood Vacation Ownership, a division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., will open its third vacation ownership resort in Hawaii, The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, on the island of Kauai. The resort is currently taking reservations for its opening in April 2008. Located on Kauai's North Shore, the oceanfront property comprises 18.5 acres perched 200 feet above Anini Beach. Princeville's championship golf courses, The Prince and The Makai, border the resort. The resort will have 179 two-bedroom villas, four pools, three whirlpools, a two-story clubhouse, a restaurant, and general store. Villas will also be offered as nightly rentals. Rates for an Island View Studio start at $600 per night, with rates at $800 per night for a one-bedroom and $1,400 per night for a two-bedroom villa. Visit www.starwoodhotels.com/hawaii Mar 3, 2008

Wyndham Hotels