Graeme Davis, vice president for Caribbean operations has announced that Westin Roco Ki is now scheduled for opening in time for winter 2009-2010. “We are shooting for late this year or the first quarter of next year at the latest,” he said during Marketplace in St Lucia. “The reasons for the delay are financial; we are ready to go in when the owners are,” he said, explaining Westin’s role as an operator. He described the property as “long-awaited.”
He announced that the property would be one of the first internationally-branded non-all-inclusive properties in the country with attractions like the Nick Faldo Legacy course with its signature 16th hole, and whales visible 100 yards offshore on a 2,500 acre development. The good news though is that the golf course is already in operation, booking tee times to the general public as of 15 December.
“Westin has stepped up its presence in the Caribbean following 2001 and 9/11 when corporations saw advantages in the proximity, safety factor to move resources to expand in the Caribbean”. He admitted that the Caribbean “has been an area lacking a footprint, but that the demand from North American travelers for experiences in warm climates made the Caribbean ‘a natural for us’.” He said that nine years ago, the company only had three or four properties in the Caribbean. The chain now operates 11 hotels in the Caribbean, has five under construction and eight under development in brands from Westin, Sheraton, Sheraton 4 Points, W and St. Regis. Starwood Caribbean includes properties in Aruba, Nassau, St. John, St. Martin, Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico and Cancun. As in the case of the new Dominican venture, Davis said that the projects under construction “are moving at a slower pace than we expected to be, but they are still making pace for opening in the next 12 months.”
“The Caribbean is one of the focal areas of growth for our company over the past eight years. In addition to the Roco Ki, Starwood has a W Retreat & Spa under construction in Vieques, Puerto Rico, which will be the first W in the Caribbean, and the Westin Le Paradis at St. Lucia, and the Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino.
He said that while the condo-hotel market “is being challenged” on real estate sales, he expected that in the long term the mixed use environment would be able to maintain itself with the right programming of hotels and events targeted to draw guests to the hotels.
Graeme Davis says that overall the luxury segment is the fastest growing, but at the same time “everyone’s looking for value today.”
Starwood operates 950 hotels worldwide in 60 countries.