The historic El San Juan hotel, long one of the leading resorts in Puerto Rico, is now officially a Fairmont. 

The Accor brand has officially taken over management of the beach resort, which recently completed a $65 million transformation project of the 388-room property. 

El San Juan, which officially reopened its doors at the end of 2018 in the wake of Hurricane Maria, had been part of Hilton’s Curio Collection. 

The hotel’s ownership said it would continue to own El San Juan, and that its franchise agreement with Hilton had ended on Jan. 2. 

“El San Juan Hotel is proud to welcome the global hospitality group Accor and its luxury Fairmont brand to Puerto Rico,” said Andro Nodarse-León, CEO, LionGrove Capital and Co-Owner, ESJ Resort LLC, which owns the property. “Both El San Juan and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts share a distinguished international reputation and unparalleled history of service excellence. In joining together these iconic brands, we look forward to preserving and furthering the hotel’s extraordinary legacy, as Fairmont El San Juan Hotel.”

El San Juan, set in San Juan’s popular beach neighborhood of Isla Verde, was designed by renowned architect Morris Lapidus (who also, interestingly, designed what is now the Hilton Aruba) and first debuted back in 1958. 

For years, it was one of the hotspots on the jet-set circuit, attracting boldfaced names from Sammy Davis, Jr. to Nat King Cole. 

The 2018 renovation sought to tap into that glamour and reinvigorate the property into a new destination resort in Puerto Rico, with the design helmed by Jeffrey Beers. 

“As the newest member of the Fairmont family, El San Juan joins a legacy which extends back more than 100 years, with landmark hotels, unrivaled presence, authentic experiences and unforgettable moments which have attracted visitors to Fairmont and its destinations since 1907. With its own incredible history as a timeless Puerto Rican icon and beacon of island hospitality since opening its doors in 1958, El San Juan is a perfect addition to the Fairmont family,” said Heather McCrory, CEO, for North and Central America at Accor.

McCrory said the Puerto Rico expansion was part of a period of “tremendous growth” ahead in the region for the company.

The resort becomes just the second Fairmond-branded resort in the Caribbean, joining the venerable Fairmont Royal Pavilion in Barbados. (Fairmont also counts two hotels in Bermuda in its broader Atlantic region portfolio). 

“We are pleased to have worked together with the property’s current management and brand companies to restore the hotel for the benefit of the community, its guests and employees. As an exciting next step, we are truly thrilled for El San Juan Hotel to be a part of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts,” Nodarse-Leon said. 

Fairmont said all existing reservations made prior to the change would be “honored by Fairmont.”

For more, visit the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel. 

— CJ

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A highly-anticipated Ritz-Carlton resort is coming to Mexico City this summer. 

The new Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City will be set in a 58-story skyscraper with views of the capital city’s iconic Chapultapec Park. 

The 153-room hotel, which will also include a residential component, will feature a club lounge, a “Mediterranean-inspired bar and restaurant,” along with a spa, a pool and a fitness center. 

When it opens, it will be Ritz-Carlton’s third hotel in Mexico, joining existing properties in Cancun and Los Cabos. 

The latter is home to the newest Ritz-Carlton, Reserve resort in the world: Zadun, which opened late last year on the country’s Pacific coast. 

For more, visit the Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City. 

— CJ

The post A New Ritz-Carlton Is Coming to Mexico City appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The islands of the Caribbean are in the middle of a new age, as dynamism, optimism and investment sweep across destinations as diverse as they are beautiful. 

And that means the world of places to visit in the Caribbean keeps getting more and more interesting. 

Whether you’re looking for burgeoning cultural hotpots, centers of culinary excellence, nascent luxury capitals or far-off tropical paradises, traveling to the Caribbean has never been a richer experience. 

Because the definition of a Caribbean vacation is as layered as it has ever been — while the Caribbean’s beautiful natural environment continues to be its primary siren song (not a surprise when you have the world’s most gorgeous beaches), travelers continue to explore the Caribbean new ways: traveling for art, for music, for community; across cities and farms and towns and distilleries and staying in new kinds of accommodations.

Our 2020 edition of the best Caribbean islands to visit takes you across this wonderful corner of the world, from tiny beach towns to chic, sophisticated urban destinations. 

In other words, it’s time to start planning your next Caribbean vacation.

St Croix, US Virgin Islands There’s a palpable new energy in US Virgin Islands tourism, and the island of St Croix is at the center of it. In just a few short years St Croix has become one of the most fascinating islands to visit in the Caribbean, with as impressive a culinary scene as you can find in the Caribbean to a pair of charming, walkable cities (Frederiksted and Christiansted) to a growing number of terrific boutique hotels, like The Fred and historic spots like the Company House. It all adds up to a truly exciting Caribbean destination, one that marries culture, personality and authenticity, and our favorite for 2020. 

The post The 20 Best Caribbean Islands to Travel to in 2020 appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Hotel company Karisma is planning a big bash to celebrate what would have been the 80th birthday of global music icon Bob Marley. 

The company’s Azul Beach Resort Negril is planning a week of events to mark the occasion from Feb. 3-9. 

As part of the program, the 285-room property will be featuring “endless Marley-inspired dance, food, drink and education,” the company said in a statement. 

That will include a Jamaican cultural showcase on the history fo African drummers; a “retro reggae showcase”; a Bob Marley quiz and trivia event; a tribute performance by the One Love reggae band; a performance by the Jam Dynamites on the history of Jamaican dancing and a reggae beach party among others. 

Karisma called the event series a “gift to guests in honor of Bob Marley’s birthday, part of the ‘Gourmet Inclusive’ vacation experience.”

For more, visit Azul Beach Resort Negril by Karisma. 

— CJ

The post How This Negril Hotel Is Celebrating Bob Marley’s Birthday appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The most iconic resort in the British Virgin Islands has completed a long-awaited comeback on Virgin Gorda. 

Luxury brand Rosewood has reopened its signature Little Dix Bay resort, marking the culmination of a multimillion-dollar effort to transform the property — one that overcame Hurricane Irma in the process.

Rosewood Little Dix Bay’s official opening comes Jan. 6 — and it’s already been operating for the last few days, according to its Web site. 

Rosewood Little Dix Bay, which closed in 2015 to embark on a dramatic re-imagination of the property, is almost an entirely new property. 

New York-based design team Meyer Davis led the makeover, which meant the creation of 80 brand-new guestrooms, suites and villas, according to the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board. 

That’s along with four different dining concepts: the Caribbean-focused Sugar Mill; a “wholesome slow food” eatery called Pavilion; the farm-to-table Reef House and the Rum Room rum bar, which is “dedicated to the liquid gold of empires, adventurers and buccaneers,” the property said. 

The latter will feature cocktails from the resort’s formative years in the 1960s and 1970s and what Rosewood Little Dix Bay is calling “an extensive library of rare and aged from from around the world.”

It’s a dramatic rebirth for the resort, one that has instantly made the new-look Rosewood Little Dix Bay one of the hottest openings of 2020. 

What hasn’t changed? A dramatic setting on 500-acres abutting one of the most beautiful beaches anywhere in the Caribbean — the site that first drew Laurance Rockefeller to the property in the 1960s – and brought a half-century of legendary guests, too — including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. 

Rosewood Little Dix Bay has long been the crown jewel of the company’s Caribbean portfolio, one that now includes the new Rosewood Baha Mar and the in-development Rosewood Half Moon Bay in Antigua. 

For more, visit Rosewood Little Dix Bay. 

 —CJ

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