The Caribbean’s newest music event is back again for 2020, with the second edition of the Grenada Music Festival. 

This year’s Grenada Music Festival will feature music superstars including Kool & the Gang, Shabba Ranks and Marcia Griffiths, among others. 

“Find your Caribbean rhythm and come to our Grenada Music Festival early June for a one love musical experience with Grenadians and you will have the time of your life,” said Patricia Maher, CEO of the Grenada Tourism Authority. “We had a marvellous time last year at the beautifully located Quarantine Park and while you are here, you can explore and immerse yourself in everything Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique has to offer.”

This year’s event will be held from June 5-7 in Grenada’s Qurantine Festival Park. 

It will kick off with a mix of jazz and reggae on June 5; the following day will see Shabba Ranks, Marcia Griffiths and reggae stars Romain Virgo and Cocoa Tea. 

The final day of the event will see a fusion of regional and local soca acts, including Nadia Batson and her band, SASS, along with local artists like Lavaman, Lil Natty and Thunda, Dash and Jab King. 

For more, visit the Grenada Music Festival. 

— CJ

The post The Grenada Music Festival Is Back for 2020 appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Just a few months after Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas, Abaco is poised for a major new investment. 

The government of The Bahamas has signed a heads of agreement with Tyrsoz Family Holdings for the development of an estimated $300 million new resort project in South Abaco. 

The developers of the project are proposing a “world-class, environmentally sustainable, luxury-island retreat with local appeal and community participation, while maintaining the natural charm of the environment,” according to a government statement. 

“Abaco is on the move,” said Bahamas Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who was on hand for the signing ceremony at Sandy Point in Abaco. “[This signing] is an important part of the post-Dorian reconstruction and rebuilding effort.”

The five-star, residential resort development is also slated to include a marina and a golf course, along with branded hotels.

The “residential resort” moniker means it will also include a real estate component.

Perhaps most significantly, Bahamas officials said the new project would also include the enhancement of the Sandy Point Airport. 

Sandy Point is the westernmost point of the southern Abaco, west of the Abaco National Park. 

The latter would come to a destination that is already home to the leading golf resort in The Bahamas, the Abaco Club on Winding Bay. 

The new project comes as South Abaco has already mounted an impressive recovery — the Abaco Club has been back open since the autumn of 2019 (it even opened the new Abaco Yacht Club in November), as has South Abaco’s Sandpiper Inn hotel. 

“In order to restore the lives of the people of Abaco and Grand Bahama we must boost economic activity and development on both islands,” Minnis said.

— CJ

The post A New $300M Resort Project Is Coming to Abaco in The Bahamas appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Marriott has opened the Caribbean’s first-ever Aloft hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

The hip new hotel is set  n the heart of the “El Distrito” project adjacent to the Puerto Rico Convention Center. 

The 177-room, boutique-style hotel is the brainchild of PRISA Group and Caribe Hospitality. 

“We are changing Puerto Rico’s hospitality landscape as the only hotel located within San Juan’s premiere entertainment destination, El Distrito, and first Aloft hotel on the island as well as in the Caribbean,” said Toni Stoeckl, Global Brand Leader for Aloft Hotels. 

Stoecki, who is also Marriott International’s Vice President for Distinctive Select Marriott International, said Aloft had 135 hotels in its global pipeline. 

The Puerto Rico hotel has all of Aloft’s signature amenities, including the W XYZ lobby bar, the Re:fuel by Aloft grab-and-go cafe, a fitness center and a pool on the third story of the property. 

“We are excited to shake up the rhythm with the first Aloft hotel in the Caribbean, bringing the brand’s different by design approach to Puerto Rico,” said Christian Nieves, General Manager of Aloft San Juan. “San Juan is a vibrant destination, filled with exciting entertainment, rich history, and captivating art, all which ignite the self-expressing Aloft traveler to explore and create.

The Aloft is the first project to open in El Distrito, a highly-anticipated entertainment-focused development centered around a 50,000-square-foot central plaza first announced in 2016 under its original name, District Live.

“We are very excited about the opening of the Aloft San Juan Hotel,” said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico. “Within the past year, Puerto Rico has experienced an all-time high with lodging revenue and supply, demonstrating the positive impact the entire industry has in the economy’s growth. Additional inventory has resulted in a supply increase of 11.1% from a previous high in 2017, and we’re determined to generate the necessary demand to carry this momentum through 2020.”

The plaza will include 14,000 square feet of LED screens featuring nightly “digital fireworks,” sports event feeds, and digital art. 

The plaza will also include a pair of al fresco bars and a center stage for daily arts and music events. 

“We are proud to announce the opening of the first Aloft hotel in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Aloft San Juan is one of the anchor properties of El Distrito and the first to open,” added Federico Stubbe Jr, president of PRISA Group and developer of Aloft San Juan and El Distrito. “Aloft will be the hotel for next generation travelers and locals looking for a fresh vibe, all integrated into the spirited environment that El Distrito will offer.”

The new Aloft joins another design-focused Marriott brand in San Juan, the AC Marriott that opened in Condado in 2017.  

For more, visit Aloft San Juan. 

— CJ

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