The Dream Hotel Group is coming to the Caribbean.

The hotel brand has announced plans to open two Dominican Republic hotels in the coming years, including The Time Dominican Republic and Unscripted Dominican Republic.

The Time, which will be the company’s first Caribbean location, will be an “upper upscale” resort hotel with beachfront guestrooms and suites, multiple dining and nightlife venues and a spa.

Unscripted will feature “spaces,” guest rooms and suites, along with multiple food and beverage outlets.

The 30-year-old company operates hotels around the world under the Dream, Time, Chatwal and Unscripted brands.

Both hotels are slated to debut in 2019.

“We signed more new hotel deals in the last six months than any other year in the company’s history,” said Dream Hotel Group chairman Sant Singh Chatwal. “After significant investment and repositioning from ownership to hotel brand and management, Dream Hotel Group now boasts its strongest portfolio ever, and we look forward to continuing to build on our success and expand our brands at a rapid rate.”

— CJ Staff

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The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism has named St. Croix chef Ralph Motta as its newest Culinary Ambassador.

The department announced that the executive chef of Motta Cuisine will represent the U.S. Virgin Islands at various in-market activations and events during the year to promote the territory’s culinary offerings.

This week, Motta appeared on camera preparing a dish for “SoFloTaste” on ABC in Miami, in advance of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Caribbean305 culinary celebration, which will take place on Miami’s Jungle Island on June 3.

During the segment, Motta, who appeared with Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty, offered host Hunter Franqui a taste of a modern twist on boiled fish.

He prepared the dish with poached mahi mahi in a butter sauce with a cilantro-lime yucca purée, passionfruit glaze, sauteed broccoli and microgreens.

“We’re honored to have Chef Motta as a Culinary Ambassador,” Nicholson-Doty said. “His incredible dishes speak for themselves, and he embodies what makes St. Croix’s culinary scene so special – fresh farm-to-table and sea-to-plate cuisine, on par with and excelling beyond well-established culinary hot spots around the world.”

The self-trained chef, who earned a BFA in Painting from New York’s Pratt Institute, brings an artistic flair to his cooking, often experimenting with a palette of new culinary techniques, serving up a fusion of American, Caribbean and French cuisines.

He founded Motta Cuisine, a boutique catering company, in 2014.

— Dana Niland, CJ Contributor

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Canadian carrier WestJet has named its new low-cost carrier and appointed a CEO.

The new airline will be called WestJet Encore, and the company has tapped Charles Duncan to lead it.

“Charles is a proven leader with extensive experience in operations, commercial and general management for global airlines,” said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. “His operating skills and effectiveness working with teams will continue the success that WestJet Encore has already had in just less than four years of operations.”

Duncan was most recently the senior vice president for technical operations at United Airlines.

“I have spent my career in aviation because it combines my love of aircraft, travel and people. Coming on board an airline like WestJet Encore with its huge growth curve, passionate employees and caring culture is a perfect fit with my professional background,” Duncan said. “I look forward to moving into the role and supporting this dynamic team in realizing even greater impact across the WestJet network.”

He will begin his term at WestJet Encore June 6.

— Caribbean Journal staff

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By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

Divided between the territories of St Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south, 32 enchanting islands (only nine of which are inhabited) are strung like pearls in a sapphire sea. These Grenadines, as they’re called, have long attracted sailors, snorkelers anddivers with their fish-filled waters and reefs teeming with sea life, as well as beach bums in search of deserted white-sand stretches to claim as their own. But beyond its abundant natural assets, there’s more to discover in the awesome archipelago. Read on for our seven favorite reasons to visit the Grenadines.

Palm Island Five beaches, three hiking trails and more than 1,800 coconut palms spread over just 135 acres of land make this family-friendly, all-inclusive private-island resort one of our favorites.

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By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

They call it Bahama blue.

But really, is should be Bahama blues, because the sapphire seas that wash this corner of the Caribbean can’t be described in a single word – simply because they aren’t a single color.

In this part of the world, water is turquoise, aquamarine, Wedgewood, cerulean and even Windex blue. And here, at this untamed beach on the Bahamian out island of San Salvador, sometimes it seems a single wave can contain all of those hues, each shimmering under the sun like a Technicolor mosaic.

To witness this marine miracle is to understand, instantly, a crucial part of the archipelago’s appeal. And to understand, equally quickly, why this spectacularly blessed locale is so hard to leave.

The post VIDEO: A Moment on the Beach in San Salvador appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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