Construction News

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 1/1/2007

Riu Makes Biggest Investment In Mexico

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO Riu Hotels & Resorts has

broken ground on the Riu Santa Fe in Cabo San

Lucas, Mexico. The US$135 million resort is

scheduled to open in November 2007 and will

mark the largest single capital investment ever

made by the company.

The all-inclusive Riu Santa Fe will be the

company’s second resort in Los Cabos and its

13th in Mexico. It will feature 902 guestrooms and

suites spread across a beachfront location. In

addition to numerous resort activities, Riu will provide its guests with numerous all-inclusive

gourmet restaurants and bars and three conference rooms.

Jumeirah To Manage Exclusive

Phuket Private Island Resort

PHUKET, THAILAND Jumeirah Group, Dubai, has

been appointed by TGR Group–Asia, to manage

the 5-star private island resort currently under

development in Ao Po Bay, Phuket, Thailand.

Scheduled for completion in late 2008, the

Jumeirah Phuket Private Island Resort will feature

65 deluxe pool villas, each with a private infinity

pool and Jacuzzi, 12 three-bedroom luxury residential

villas, four restaurants and bars, as well

as extensive leisure, spa and fitness facilities, including a large, free-form swimming pool and

a quarter-mile (.4 km) private, white sandy beach. In addition, the resort will offer a marina, a

private yacht club, a tennis court, several boutiques, a business center and a library with dedicated

reading room.

Jumeirah Phuket Private Island Resort will be situated on the shores of Koh Raet, an

untouched tropical island located just one-third of a mile (.48 km) off shore from Ao Po Bay,

northeast of Phuket Island in Thailand. This news follows Jumeirah’s entry into the Southeast

Asian market with the planned opening of Hantang Jumeirah Shanghai in July 2008 and the

announcement of several senior management appointments, including the set up of Jumeirah’s

regional operations in the Asia Pacific region.

Big Expansion At Four Seasons Dallas

DALLAS Real estate investor BentleyForbes has earmarked more than US$150 million

to improve and expand the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas.

Plans for the next 18 months feature the redesign of both the resort’s signature

golf courses, development of 40 new guest villas and 40 Four Seasons luxury

residential condominiums. A comprehensive guestroom, lobby, sports club,

restaurant and facility enhancement and expansion program will take place

throughout the resort.

Architecture firms HKS, Inc. and Morrison, Seifert, Murphy will be responsible

for the addition of 40 resort villas; the complete refurbishment of guestrooms, hallways

and common areas; comprehensive lobby renovations and expansion; major

enhancements to the Sports Club facilities; installation of CAT6 Ethernet cable

throughout the resort for optimal technological connectivity; the expansion and

renovation of existing restaurant facilities in tandem with the addition of another

restaurant offering to service a new, landscaped designer pool that will be added to

the resort grounds adjacent to the new villas.

Regent To Manage Costa Rica Resort,

COSTA RICA Kirchert Pakonen Development and Regent Hotels

& Resorts have announced plans for La Punta Papagayo, a

60-acre (24-ha), 5-star resort located near Liberia International

Airport in the northwest region of Guanacaste province,

overlooking the Gulf of Papagayo and the Bay of Colebra. The

resort is scheduled to open in early 2009 and will comprise a

luxury hotel, private villas, estate homes and a retail village.

La Punta Papagayo is a joint venture of Blaine Kirchert

and Rich Pakonen of Minnesota-based Kirchert Pakonen

Development, LLC. Architect Ronald Zürcher of Zürcher

Arquitectos de Costa Rica will lead the development team

that includes EDSA landscape architects, DEHC Ingenieros

Consultores and the interior design firm of Wimberly Allison

Tong & Goo.

La Punta Papagayo also will feature a world-class restaurant

under the direction of an internationally acclaimed chef,

as well as a luxury spa and wellness center.

New Crowne Plaza Prototype

To Debut In Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN InterContinental Hotels Group is developing

a new Crowne Plaza prototype with the first property scheduled

to open first quarter 2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The hotel is

owned by KL Hotel, LLC, and will be managed by Lane Hospitality,

Northbrook, Illinois.

The new prototype is scalable to accommodate different site

constraints and markets and incorporates “best practices” for a

larger meetings hotel. The brand also recognized the prototype

as an opportunity to apply consumer research from professional

meeting planners and guests on design and efficiency. One of

the brand’s most significant findings uncovered how today’s

business traveler likes to meet and conduct business.

“We leveraged

this customer insight

to make the public

space design modern,

efficient and relevant

to today’s traveler,”

says Kevin Kowalski,

vice president, brand

management, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts. “For example, the

lobby area and lounge contain soft seating with adjacent hard

surfaces, power sources and WIFI to accommodate smaller,

informal meetings and individuals working outside their rooms.”

Furniture, fixtures and equipment in guestrooms are designed

for comfort and function and replicate the residential design found

in today’s homes. Guestrooms will provide business traveler-friendly

amenities, including an interactive flat screen television with laptop

plug-in; ergonomic chair and mobile workstation; task lighting;

multiple convenient power sources; and WIFI access.