Spanish-based Pineyro hotel group’s Bahia Principe chain has taken over the Portillo Beach Resort in Las Terrenas, Samana. The hotel closed on 15 January and is scheduled to re-open once fully renovated in November, in time for the 2006-2007 winter season. The Pineyro group runs hotels in the Playa Grande (Rio San Juan) area on the north coast, and in Punta Cana, and has reportedly recently acquired long-term operation rights on the Cayacoa and the Cayo Levantado hotels and purchased the Gran Bahia hotel, previously under Occidental management.