The world might be getting smaller, but its hotel and tourism developments are not. Monolithic resort complexes and city makeovers -- complete with multiple hotels, restaurants, shopping and recreational offerings -- are now under development around the world. For meeting planners, these vast projects create attractive destinations unto themselves, where groups of nearly any size can stay within strolling distance of one another, and multiday meetings can be accomplished with no need for ground transportation. A year ago, M&C profiled seven megaresorts in the works (“Vast Resorts,” January 2006). Here’s an inside look at another eight projects.
The Fairmont Mayakoba
near Cancun, Mexico
Mayakoba
Riviera Maya, Mexico
The Riviera Maya already has its fair share of hotels, but the Mayakoba development, about 40 miles to the south of Cancun, promises to dwarf them all. If all goes according to plan, the project eventually will include five resorts, only one of which -- the 401-room Fairmont Mayakoba -- has opened. That property debuted last April and features four restaurants; a 20,000-square-foot spa; an 18-hole, Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course; and 40,000 square feet of event space, including two ballrooms.
When completed, Mayakoba will have cost its backers $2 billion, counting a 120-room hotel from Singapore-based Banyan Tree; the 120-room Laguna Kai, a Rosewood Resort; a 110-villa Kor Hotel Group property called the Viceroy Riviera Maya; and a slightly smaller property called La Casa que Canta, or the House that Sings.
In charge of the construction is Spanish company Obrascon Huarte Lain, perhaps better known for its specialty in restoration work at UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The lawns and plant life at the property are watered by a chain of lagoons and canals. And there are no paved roads on site; transport is entirely via trails, bike paths and waterways.
Juan Aguilar, director of investor relations, says the property’s design is a “result of real environmental concerns that have been overcome -- without skimping on luxury. We knew when we started building here that we would not repeat the high-intensity construction seen in Cancun.”
The French Lick (Ind.) Springs Hotel
is part of larger developments
in the works.
French Lick
French Lick, Ind.
The first stage of the $382 million restoration and expansion of the French Lick Springs Resort Casino opened in November with the 442-room French Lick Springs Hotel. The property, which was completely overhauled, dates from 1901, when the town was developed as a spa destination for its Pluto mineral spring.
The resort’s 84,000-square-foot casino, shaped like a Mississippi paddle-steamer, has brought back gaming to Indiana after a 60-year absence. Another restored property on the grounds, the boutique-style West Baden Springs Hotel, will open this spring with 240 rooms.
The resort also features eight restaurants, a bowling alley and 45 holes of golf, including a new 18-hole Pete Dye course. Also on site are two spas (with a total of 36 treatment rooms between them) and a 109,000-square-foot conference center with two ballrooms measuring 13,000 and 6,700 square feet, both with terraces overlooking formal gardens.
In Spain, Valencia’s new
opera house and museum
developments are big news.
Valencia
Spain
Three years ago, this city of a million people barely registered on a Spanish tourism scene dominated by Barcelona and Madrid, but that has changed. The tide turned in 2004 with the completion of a $495 million museum and aquarium -- Santiago Calatrava’s Ciutat de les Artes i de les Ciencies -- built in a sunken park on the site of a former canal that wraps around half the city. Calatrava’s 4,400-seat opera and concert house, the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, joined it there last October.
Even more development is under way as Valencia prepares to host next year’s America’s Cup yachting event, to take place June 23 to July 7. This marks the first time in 152 years that the Cup has been held in Europe, and the city is expecting to host one million visitors.
Where to house everyone? Opened in February was the Las Arenas Balnerario Resort & Spa, with 253 rooms, meeting space for up to 1,000 people and a spa from Parisian parfumerie Guerlain. Also making waves, the 135-room Westin Valencia opened last October in a restored 1917 building and features a spa, five meeting rooms and a ballroom for up to 380.
Still in the planning stages is America’s Cup Park, a $50 million project to revitalize the city’s port area in time for the Cup. Plans call for restaurants, entertainment venues, more Calatrava edifices and several hotels, among them a 306-room Hilton property. Also to arrive is the Veles e Vents (Catalan for “Sails and Winds”) conference center, with 130,000 square feet of exhibit space.
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
Prince George’s County, Md.
Eight miles south of Washington, D.C., in Prince George’s County, Md., the 42-acre Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center received a funding boost in July 2006 that expanded the projected guest room count from 1,500 to 2,000. The property is expected to celebrate its grand opening in March 2008 with a 20,000-square-foot spa and 470,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 180,000-square-foot convention center, 82 meeting rooms and two ballrooms containing 50,000 and 30,000 square feet, respectively.
The $565 million resort will afford views of the nation’s capital from across the Potomac River as part of the 300-acre National Harbor Resort, a mixed-use condominium development with a 2,500-seat theater and a variety of other entertainment venues.
Gulf States
Abu Dhabi
Dubai is not the only emirate in the United Arab Emirates looking to diversify its business interests beyond oil. Abu Dhabi, 75 miles southwest of Dubai, also is aiming to expand its share of the tourist trade, with the Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi, which opens next month.
Managed by Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, the property will span 21 acres and feature a 3,300-foot-long beach; 214 guest rooms, and 161 condominiums ranging from studios to six-bedroom villas. Six restaurants will complement a faux souk (an Arabian marketplace), a health club, five pools and a 2,296-foot-long waterway, along which Arab-style gondolas will transport guests around the property. Meeting and event facilities will consist of a 2,950-square-foot ballroom and four meeting rooms.
Abu Dhabi’s man-made
Saadiyat Island will feature
many attractions.
The Middle East’s largest artificial island, Saadiyat (Arabic for “Happiness”), broke ground this April and will be built in three phases, ending in 2018. Its size will far surpass three similar projects in Dubai, and two 10-lane highways will link it to the mainland.
Among 6,000 acres will be five miles of beach, a 1,000-berth marina, an oceanarium, several museums (including the world’s largest Guggenheim outpost), three golf courses, a wetland, an equestrian park and 29 hotels containing 7,000 guest rooms.
Lastly, the emirate announced in November another artificial resort called Yas Island. It will have the world’s first Ferrari World resort, based on the Italian luxury car company; a Ferrari theme park with a championship-quality race track; 3 million square feet of shopping; two marinas; several other resorts (no names as yet); a water park; three golf courses, and a polo field and equestrian center. Stay tuned for an opening date.
Bahrain
Not to be outdone by its neighbors, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the kingdom of Bahrain also is building big.
Bahrain has one significant mega-property that opened its first phase last year and will open its second in 2008. Amwaj Island -- where Michael Jackson has been spending time lately -- is an artificial island with canals, a man-made reef, golf courses, wildlife areas and entertainment venues.
Many thousands of condominium units will be added, as well, as will numerous hotels, including in 2008 both the Renaissance Bahrain Amwaj Islands, with five restaurants, 323 rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Hotel JAL Bahrain Resort & Spa, with 350 rooms. Other hotels soon will be announced, all upscale or luxury.
The island will encompass its own smaller artificial island, which will offer theme parks, gardens, cinemas, a bowling alley and an aviary.
Qatar
The emirate of Qatar also is moving full speed into tourism, with some 40 hotel projects opening in the capital, Doha, by 2012. A recent debut was that of the 232-room Four Seasons Hotel Doha, while the largest will be the Pearl-Qatar development, with four marinas, a large entertainment area and 13 miles of beach along what is already being marketed as the Riviera Arabia. Of the several hotels expected, Four Seasons announced plans in October to manage a 350-room property, its second in the area. All work is set for completion by the end of 2020.
Panama Canal Zone
Panama
When the United States guarded the Panama Canal Zone from its base at Fort Clayton, it installed an impressive array of computers and fiber-optic equipment. This infrastructure is spurring development of training, convention and team-building facilities as part of a project that will redevelop the fort as the 300-acre Ciudad del Saber, or City of Knowledge.
The first hotel to open will be the 100-room Holiday Inn Hotel & School Panama Canal in mid-2008, which will be a sister property to the nearby InterContinental Playa Bonita Resort & Spa, which opened last January with 300 rooms; other hospitality ventures are expected to follow. Meanwhile, last October, Panamanians voted to invest $5.2 billion in a plan to enlarge the canal by 2014 to accommodate larger ships; and being planned is a bilingual university specializing in hospitality.