  |
|
|
|
|
Hotels Clamor to Build Along Pacific Coast By Ralph Nicholson At Least Ten Groups In Talks Over Beach-Front Land Deals Developers are in discussions with at least ten major hotel chains who want to build high-end accommodation on beachfront land along the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, the Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Regent International Hotels, the Starwood Group’s St. Regis Hotels, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, Aman Resorts International and the JW Marriott are all vying for beachfront land. Most are planning up-market, five-star, hotels and resorts, which would relieve the region’s room shortage and create thousands of jobs. The rush to build hotels is partly driven by the tourist boom in Costa Rica —- the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), says 1.6 million foreign tourists came here in 2005, generating about $1.589 billion —- but also because the hotel business can be a lucrative one. “Hotels are a good investment in this market,” said one hotel manager. “You can expect to repay your investment in three years.” Hacienda Pinilla, the sprawling 1,820-hectare beach and golf resort announced last year it had done a deal with the El Salvador-based Grupo Poma conglomerate, to build a five-star, 180-room, JW Marriott resort on their property. Developers will break ground within three months, and the first phase, probably costing about $45 million, is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. Further, last weekend, president-elect Óscar Arias, on tour in Liberia and Nicoya confirmed the long-held belief that a Hyatt Hotel would be built in Brasilito. Dr Arias said he had met with foreign investors who were prepared to spend $100 million on the project. Jamie Izaks, corporate public relations officer for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, would make no comment on the project, but a lawyer close to the deal said the hotel would be built on the northern end of Brasilito’s Bay. A developer in the area said it was no secret representatives for the Hyatt had been trying to buy up additional land from the small barrio, known as El Precario. One of the worst kept secrets in Costa Rica is the impending presence of a Rosewood Hotel, on a 60-hectare (150-hectare) property on Playa Guachipelin. The deal has been on the table for more than six years, but is now understood to be signed, for beachfront property owned by Roger Hall, of Hallmark Properties, a developer out of California. Certainly, a master plan of the area, cost analyses, and construction schedules are ready and waiting for the 80-room hotel, which will include 12 deluxe suites and one presidential suite. The project was to have been two phases, but will now go ahead as one, and include an additional 60 villas of two, three and four bedrooms. There will be a further 20 estate lots plus a spa and a fitness center. Like other hotels, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts do not comment on deals until they are finalized. “But I can say that we are and have been actively looking at Costa Rica for some time and are in discussions with developers of a very attractive project in Guanacaste,” said Cate Veatch, manager for corporate public relations. Desarrollos Hoteleros Guanacaste, S.A, the parent company of the Playa Conchal resort and golf course development, says they too will add a second hotel, probably beginning mid-2007. It would join the 308-room, all-inclusive, Paradisus Playa Conchal resort already on the property. The group has been in discussions for some time with several hotel chains, believed to be US-based, who might want to operate the five-star, 220 to 260-room hotel. It could be operational within 30 months. Further, and it is probably another four years away, DHG will develop Los Altos, a small outcrop of land overlooking Playa Conchal from the south. Here will be a six-star, 70-room, boutique hotel, high-priced condominiums, duplexes and villas all overlooking an isolated beach whose only access will be by boat. One of the more attractive hotel sites remains the Gulf of Papagayo, where Ecodesarrollo Papagayo S.A., manages an 840-hectare (about 2000 acre) concession on the northern Pacific coast. Their 28-year-development plan will eventually include a total of nine hotels. Vivian Deuschl, corporate vice-president for public relations for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC said her group looked at “hundreds of possible development sites around the World and we don’t comment until we have a signed contract.” “However, Central America and the Caribbean is very attractive to us and to our customers,” Ms Deuschl said. Mr Case’s Exclusive Resort Properties is also reported to have an option on three of the four completed houses within Ecodesarrollo Papagayo, worth $4 million each. The deal is not signed, but representatives of the company already inhabit the properties. Exclusive Resorts has also paid up to $1.5 million for each of six additional building lots in the same area. Regent International Hotels are confirmed as speaking to developers about a plot of ocean-view land within a stone’s throw of Ecodesarrollo Papagayo. Carlson Hospitality Worldwide acquired Regent International Hotels from Four Seasons Hotels in November 1997. Just south of Mr Case’s Punto del Cacique and Playas del Coco, is 242 hectares (about 600 acres) fronting Playa Guacamaya, recently purchased by the Baltimore, Maryland-based Union Box company for a reported $11 million. The developers, who have access to both Guacamaya and Zapotal Beaches, have an option on a further 405 hectares (1000 acres) in the Zapotal Valley. “Right now we seem to be in the same boat as many developers —- trying to decide on a hotel and the right one,” said a company representative. “I do know that our area is on the radar of every major hotel that we talk to, but not many deals have been made yet.” |