Hospitality Design - January/February 2016 - 87

Dominican Republic
Backstory: The Dominican Republic is known for Punta

Cana's coastal resorts, but recently the island has seen
projects popping up in Santo Domingo, Playa Grande,
and Cap Cana. Tourism, the country's main industry, has
been on the upswing, as well. According to the Dominican
Republic Ministry of Tourism, the country saw an 8.9
percent increase in travelers over 2014, with more than 3.5
million visitors between January and September of 2015.
The country has spent the past two decades
investing in utilities, training its labor force, and
building infrastructure-including new roadways and
an expansion of the Punta Cana International Airport.
Ease of access for U.S., European, South American, and
Central American travelers "has been the driving force for
the development in the area," says Scott Smith, managing
director at PKF Hospitality Research. A visitor return rate
of 50 to 60 percent doesn't hurt either.
The market and its travelers have matured, and a
dozen hotel projects in the pipeline, when "there are only
about 60 business-class hotels in the entire country," is a
substantial increase for the Caribbean nation, says Bruce
Ford, senior vice president and director of global business
development at Lodging Econometrics.

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Highlights: Playa Grande, on the northern part of the
island, is an emerging area catering to upscale travelers
with the cliffside Amanera, which opened in December
with design by London-based Heah & Co. The November
2015 debut of the Playa Grande Beach Club was 10 years
in the making for New York designer Celerie Kemble, her
husband Boykin Curry, and a few of their friends, who
took on a site in the raw jungle, transforming it into a lush
upscale hotel with three bedrooms and nine standalone
villas that combines the Dominican's Victorian-era design
style with Kemble's Palm Beach, Florida upbringing.
The 115-room AlSol Tiara Cap Cana luxury resort,
designed by Mexico-based Arquitectura de Interiores,
"provides a fresh take on luxury," says Carlos Del Pino,
managing director of AlSol Hotels & Resorts, while
the Gansevoort Playa Imbert, owned and designed by
Nathalie Schembri-Sant and her husband, Ian, also sits
on the northern coast. Other developments include the
redesign of the sophisticated 13-villa Tortuga Bay by Oscar
de la Renta and the new build Secrets Cap Cana Resort &
Spa planned for November.
Expect more from big brands, including the Hard
Rock Hotel & Casino Santo Domingo set to join its
Punta Cana sister property in 2017, as well as the
InterContinental Real Santo Domingo slated to open
this summer with interiors by Dallas-based Watermark
Design Studio.

1. The airy lobby at AlSol
Tiara Cap Cana features
a tropical palette
with pops of mango,
turquoise, and white
mixed with natural wood
surfaces.
2. White cabana beds
overlook the pool and
ocean at the Gansevoort
Playa Imbert.
3. Materials native to
the Dominican Republic,
such as royal palm
wood, and copper that
turns green over time
add to the a bar at Playa
Grande Beach Club.

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