Sandals Resorts International To Add Three New Resorts In Jamaica
Main Photo: The site of the new Sandals Dunn’s River & Sandals Royal Dunn’s River
Date: May 2021
Locations: Dunn’s River & Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Names: Sandals Dunn’s River, Sandals Royal Dunn’s River and Beaches Runaway Bay Resort
No. of Keys: 250 and 400, one to four bedroom suites
Seller: The two properties at Dunn’s River were Jewel hotels. Ocho Rios was previously a Sandals, sold and sold again…back to Sandals!
Buyer: Signaling the brand’s ongoing confidence in the destination, Sandals Resorts International (SRI) will add three new hotels to its Jamaica roster. Sandals Resorts International already operates nine resorts in Jamaica, along with three private villas.
According to SRI executive chairman Adam Stewart, Sandals Resorts will transform two all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica acquired last year—the former Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort & Spa in Ocho Rios and Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Resort & Waterpark—plus a prime parcel of beachfront land adjacent to the Ocho Rios resort into three distinct experiences under the Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts brands.
The expansion plans return one of Jamaica’s most storied resorts, the Dunn’s River property in Ocho Rios, back to the Sandals family as Sandals Dunn’s River, the same moniker as when it was originally added to the portfolio in 1990. Stewart added that when the property became available, “we jumped at the chance to bring the hotel back into the Sandals fold.”
The new Sandals Dunn’s River will receive a top-to-bottom renovation with the adjacent ocean-front land transformed into an additional brand-new resort: Sandals Royal Dunn’s River, a modern escape with approximately 250 rooms and suites. The sister hotels will operate very much like the concept SRI developed between Sandals Barbados and Sandals Royal Barbados, offering exchange privileges between the two all-inclusive resorts, giving guests “tremendous” dining and amenity options.
The Runaway Bay resort, another renowned Jamaican property hotel, located midway between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, will also undergo extensive redevelopment to become Beaches Runaway Bay Resort, the third family-friendly Beaches Resort in Jamaica. At its completion, the hotel will have an estimated 400 expansive one-, two-, three and four-bedroom suites, designed with extended families in mind. Guests of Beaches Runaway Bay also have access to Runaway Bay Golf Club and its par-72, 18-hole championship golf course.
THPT Comment: No doubt about Sandals and Adam Stewart’s commitment to their special style of all-inclusive resort hotels, that they more or less invented back in 1981, when Budge Stewart started their first hotel in Montego Bay.
First Seen: Travel Agent Central
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