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It appears as if developers may have gotten their hands on two more islands in the Caribbean that they plan on heavily developing.
We recently brought you news of rumors of a resort development on Dominica. Travel Agent still isn’t at liberty to share the specifics of that particular project, but we can confirm that Starwood Hotels & Resorts (www.starwoodhotels.com) is eyeing Dominica as well as Curacao. Representatives of the company said at a recent Caribbean Marketplace press conference that they will aggressively pursue new locations in the Caribbean, including Dominica and Curacao.
Curacao will also be the site of a mega-luxury resort and marina development, which has already broken ground. Santa Barbara Plantation will be located along a harbor known as “Spanish Water” in Curacao, 25 minutes from the capital city of Willemstad.
Upon completion of the first phase, which includes a 350-room Hyatt Regency Hotel, Santa Barbara Plantation plans to offer upscale clients plenty of other amenities. Those include an 18-hole, Pete Dye-designed golf course and the 120-slip Seru Boca Marina, which is capable of accommodating vessels up to 80 feet in length and a homeowners’ beach club. The Hyatt Regency will be opening in the fall of 2009 and the golf course is scheduled for a fall of 2009 opening. Santa Barbara Plantation is about 40 minutes from the Hato International Airport, which is regularly served by major air carriers such as American (twice daily from Miami), Continental and Delta.