Danny Hughes, vice-president of operations for Hilton Caribbean, recently announced that the Hilton Santo Domingo is scheduled to open in Spring 2004, as reported by John Collins for Caribbean Business. The 21-floor tower-style hotel, with its 228 mostly oceanview rooms, will have the largest casino in the Dominican Republic. Its rooms will all be equipped with high-speed Internet access and floor-to-ceiling windows to provide breathtaking views of the Caribbean Sea. The hotel is located on Santo Domingo’s seafront boulevard, El Malecon, and will anchor the residential and commercial complex known as the Malecon Center. The 44,000-square foot complex will offer retail shopping, a cinema, restaurants, entertainment areas and commercial office space. Luxury residential condominiums have been sold in three adjacent towers. The hotel is a joint venture of Coral Hotels & Resorts and prominent Dominican real estate developer Jesus Rodriguez Sandoval. “We are pleased to add this city hotel to our DR collection,” said Simon Suarez, executive vice-president of Coral Hotels & Resorts. “The Hilton Santo Domingo will be the leading business and conference hotel in the capital.” Suarez is also currently the president of the Caribbean Hotel Association.
Part of the hotel will be a 4,644-square foot Hilton meetings complex with two board rooms, five flexible meeting rooms and a fully equipped business center with four PC stations and high-speed Internet access. Additionally, a 7,203-square foot ballroom with a 550-person capacity, a 2,312-square foot junior ballroom and a 2,430-square foot foyer will bring the hotel’s total meeting space to close to 17,000 square feet.
John Collins reports that hotel industry observers view the latest move by Hilton Caribbean in the DR as a shrewd scheme to capitalize on its earlier decision to compete aggressively in the all-inclusive market by teaming up with Coral Hotels & Resorts. Coral had already established its self in the field and the expertise of Hilton strengthens its position while adding to it Hilton’s worldwide marketing capacity.