Another Spanish hotel chain coming to Jamaica
Published:Wednesday | July 10, 2019 | 12:17 AM
Princess Hotels & Resorts has achieved a long-held goal of buying land in Jamaica and hopes to begin building its resort by next summer, says Caribbean representative Rafael Millan.
The Spanish hotel chain has holdings in its home market, the Canary Islands, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic and is looking to expand to Jamaica and Costa Rica, Millan said on Monday.
Princess’ Jamaican resort is earmarked for 186 acres at Green Island in Hanover. The seller was a private owner who was identified only as a Jamaican-Canadian.
“We are currently working on the master plan,” said Millan. “We are doing 2,000 rooms in two phases – one phase of 1,000 and another phase of 1,000.”
June 2020, he said, is the date being considered for groundbreaking.
Princess Hotels was founded in 1967. Millan said the number of rooms being operated in the Caribbean amounts to 5,000.
He said the company’s total investment in the Jamaican resort would range between US$150 million and US$500 million.
Jamaica “is extremely interesting for the type of products we manage. It is a very solid brand, internationally well known. Historically, Jamaica is one of the first international brands in the market. Jamaica is where all-inclusive started in the ’70s after the oil crisis,” said the hotel rep.
“The brand has been there for many years. Everyone respects and likes it. You say ‘Jamaica’ to everyone in the world, and normally, what you get back is a smile,” Millan added.