St Maarten Is Getting a New Planet Hollywood All-Inclusive
Date: August 2018
Location: St. Maarten, The Caribbean
Name: Planet Hollywood – Opening 2018/19
A rendering of Planet Hollywood’s planned Costa Rica hotel.
No. of Keys: 450
Seller: The resort will be located at the site of the former Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Casino, which was destroyed by Hurricane Irma and eventually demolished.
Buyer: That property was shortly thereafter purchased from Sonesta by Canadian travel giant Sunwing, which will soon begin construction on the property, according to a statement from St Maarten’s Ministry of Tourism.
The hotel will be set on what is arguably the signature bay on the Dutch side of the island.
Planet Hollywood, which is planning to open its first all-inclusive branded resort in the Caribbean Basin in Costa Rica this autumn.
St Maarten will represent the second Caribbean island property for the Planet Hollywood Hotels brand, which is branching out from a small portfolio of properties in Las Vegas and Goa.
The new Planet Hollywood all-inclusives will feature all of the brand’s signatures, from Hollywood memorabilia to aPH Spa and Beauty Bar.
It will be the second of two major new all-inclusives planned on the island, following next year’s planned launch of the Secrets St Martin resort on the French side of the island.
While the Sonesta Great Bay is no longer, Sonesta is planning a major comeback on the island with its other two high-profile resorts: the Sonesta Ocean Point and the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort.
The Ocean Point is slated to return mid November, while the Maho Beach Resort is targeting a reopening date of mid February 2019.
THPT Comment: Good to see so much of The Caribbean getting back to business after Hurricane Irma. Robert Earl, a good old Londoner, who started life as Joe Lewis’ No. 2 has had a colourful life, currently presiding over Planet Hollywood at CEO and Chairman and TV star in his own cookery programme in the USA!
He also helped Hard Rock in it’s early days get to it success levels before sale to the UK’s Rank Group. Most recently he acquired the USA’s Bertucci’s Restaurant chain with 59 locations.
First Seen: Caribbean Journal