Come 2008, Costa Rica will be home to two new luxury resorts,
hundreds of additional hotel rooms, and thousands of new
jobs, if projects announced this month by two international
hotel chains go as planned.
The development
landscape of Guanacaste changed significantly last week
when Hyatt Hotels and Resorts announced plans to build a 557-acre
resort – complete with a 214-room, 100-condominium hotel,
an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman and more than
1,000 residential units – in the northwestern province.
The first phase of construction, expected to last two years
and require an investment of $100 million, will begin in July;
the entire project is expected to be completed in five to
seven years.
Meanwhile, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Costa
Rican development firm Grupo Genesis announced plans this
week to build a new hotel, St. Regis Resort, on the Central
Pacific coast. The resort will feature 133 rooms, a dramatic
cliff-top presidential suite, a spa and residences, according
to a statement from Starwood Hotels.
News of the two developments came just days after President
Oscar Arias and Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides called
for renewed nationwide efforts to strengthen Costa Rica’s
tourism industry and make the country an attractive option
for foreign investment (TT, May 19). When Arias arrived at
the Hotel Real Intercontinental May 11 for the swanky Hyatt
launch event, he said the international company’s impending
arrival makes it still more important for the government
to improve infrastructure in Guanacaste and throughout the
country.
“This fills us with happiness on the one hand and
concerns on the other,” Arias said as he arrived at
the Intercontinental. He added that the Hyatt’s Azulera
will heighten the need for significant attention to the Daniel
Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste’s
capital.
Large-Scale Intimate Lodging
An Artist’s Renderingof the Hyatt Regency Azulera
Resort & Spa planned in the northwestern province of
Guanacaste.Courtesy of Azulera
Project leaders say construction of the Hyatt Regency Azulera
Resort & Spa – between Playas Tamarindo and Flamingo,
200 miles northwest of San José and 40 miles southwest
of the international airport in Liberia – will be conducted
with the environment, as well as nearby town of Brasilito,
in mind.
“We’re developing with great sensitivity,” said
Ronald Zürcher, head of Zürcher Arquitectos de
Costa Rica, which will execute the designs created by U.S.-based
Michael Graves & Associates. According to Patrick Burke
of Michael Graves, the design concept is based on allowing
guests to experience nature.
“We didn’t try to overstyle the architecture,” he
said, adding that the designs focus on local materials. “It’s
a real, authentic paradise.”
The resort will offer guests and residents a full-service
spa, a gym, beach access, a salt-water pool next to the ocean,
and a variety of freshwater pools, as well as a banquet hall,
conference rooms and gardens. One of the many bars and dining
areas throughout the resort will be located at the highest
point of the property, looking out over the ocean and Isla
Loros, just offshore, over a series of infinity pools.
Despite the size and scope of the project, Burke said the
architects have worked to create “intimate spaces” that “blend
the notion of indoors and outdoors.
“The intent is to allow you to feel like you’re
living outdoors… that’s exciting for someone
coming from Minnesota,” he said.
With this in mind, approximately 20% of the property will
be developed; the rooms will be scattered throughout, each
with its own private terrace, and each group of rooms with
its own patio, gardens and pool.
Buildings will be low-rise, with the goal that the greenery
will dominate and only the roofs will be visible, Burke said.
Several of the resort’s services, including the beach,
spa and restaurants, will be open to the public, along with
a facility designed “to work for both the town (of
Brasilito) and the resort,” according to Burke: a “Village
Market” of retail and office space. This space, on
the side of the resort closest to Brasilito, will house a
grocery store, pharmacy and laundromat, along with office
space and a medical center – something Brasilito lacks,
Burke said.
“This isn’t a project that will be behind walls,” added
Zürcher, who estimated the resort will create 2,000-2,500
jobs during construction. “It will be integrated into
the community.”
Norman, the 20-time U.S. PGA winner, will design the ocean-view,
par-32 golf course, complete with driving range, putting
green, club and bar. More than 200 golf-course villas will
flank the course.
The Chicago-based Global Hyatt Corporation, which encompasses
the Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands,
has 215 hotels and resorts with more than 90,000 rooms in
44 countries, according to www.hyatt.com.
New Jersey-based Global Financial Group is financing the
project.
News on the Central Pacific
Zürcher Arquitectos is also charged with the design
of the new St. Regis Resort and Residences at Playa Coyol,
near the Marriott
Los Sueños resort on the Central
Pacific. Representatives from the international Starwood
chain, as well as Miami, Florida-based hotelier Lionstone
Development, promise the resort will bring a new level of
luxury to Costa Rica.
“We are excited to work with the prestigious St. Regis
brand, as well as one of the top developers in Costa Rica,
to create one of the most exclusive real estate and resort
offerings in Latin America,” Diego Lowenstein, CEO
of Lionstone, said in the statement.
The site spans 250 acres and is expected to generate 2,000
jobs during construction and another 2,000 once the hotel
is open, according to wire service ACAN-EFE.
Guestrooms, designed by Cheryl Rowley Associates of Beverly
Hills, California, will have terraces with showers, netted
daybeds and “relaxation coves.” Construction
plans include 49 condominiums, 42 deluxe villas and nine
estate homes.
Like the Hyatt resort, the St. Regis is scheduled to open
in 2008 and will be built using materials indigenous to the
area, the statement said.
The Starwood chain operates hotels in 95 countries, with
brands including Sheraton, Westin and Le Meridien; St. Regis
is the company’s luxury brand, with sites in Anguilla,
New York, Bali, Mexico City and Singapore, among other locations.
St. Regis Resort and Residences Costa Rica is the group’s
first investment in Costa Rica.
Grupo Genesis is known for its Forum Office Park in Santa
Ana, southwest of San José.
**Published with special permission of the Tico Times www.ticotimes.net
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