Source: http://www.thebeachtimes.com/
By Ralph Nicholson
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com/
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
The long-awaited Rosewood hotel and spa breaks ground on a 45 hectare (112 acres) property fronting Playa Guachipelín in Guanacaste this month, but the first structures will not be concrete block and mortar but rather mild-steel and reinforced canvas. The developers behind the Rosewood Costa Carmel, as the resort will be known, have begun building a small tent village just a stone’s throw from the ocean, but far from roughing it, the first guests will live in the height of luxury. Eight people will be brought in to set up the three South African-built, luxury tents, each of which will have its own power and air-conditioning and include a chef, a butler and maids. Further, the inside of the tent-suites is designed to replicate a Rosewood hotel room, right down to the linen on the bed and the towels in the bathroom. “My role is to see the tented operation reflects Rosewood standards,” said Gert F. Kopera, Director of Operations for Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, who flew into Guanacaste last week. “That we are able to show the clients what the final product will be like on a service delivery,” he added. “The amenities in the tents will be virtually identical to eventual amenities in the hotel.” It’s the first of many visits Mr Kopera will make to the area as he decides what to serve in the hotel’s three restaurants (which will be open to the public), where to source the produce, who can make furniture locally, and how to solve the countless other logistical problems associated with building a high-end hotel. “That goes for the uniforms, linen, the vase on the table, everything must be sustainable,” says Mr Kopera.
© Ralph Nicholson
“And food and beverages as well. We are looking for restaurant concepts, based on what we can deliver to perfection, even if we have to help local farmers grow to certain specifications.” During his visit, for example, the operations manager discovered a butcher he believes can deliver sufficient meat at the right quality to allow for a meat-based restaurant. A seafood restaurant is a given. “Just watching what the fishermen bring in…the fish and seafood here is nothing short of astounding,” Mr Kopera adds. “I am sure that we will have 90 per cent of our food produced locally.” The hotel complex, which is scheduled to open in April of 2010, will be designed by Three Architecture, a Dallas, Texas-based group that specializes in four and five-star hotels, resorts, country clubs and spas. It was founded 24 years ago, and has designed a Rosewood Hotel before — the Rosewood Mayakoba Resort, in Riviera Maya, in Mexico. The project becomes the third luxury hotel to break ground in Guanacaste in the past 12 months. The 310-room J.W. Marriott, inside the Hacienda Pinilla beach resort community has been under construction for more than a year, while the 214-room Hyatt Azulera Resort formally broke ground in Brasilito at the end of January.
© Photo Courtesy
ARTIST’S IMPRESSION: The Rosewood guestrooms. Developers say the hotel will be finished by April of 2010. Construction on model homes begins this month. But the Rosewood’s tent village, which is expected to be completed in 45 days, is not just about showing off the facilities of the 80-room hotel, rather it is part of an aggressive sales and marketing campaign which also kicks off this month. For in the hills behind the hotel rooms dotted in front of the wide, white-sand beach will be up to 80 one, two, three and four-bedroom homes. Fifteen undeveloped residential ocean-view lots are also for sale. This week representatives of IMI, the South Carolina-based, international real estate company in charge of selling and marketing the project, left on a tour of London, Paris, Moscow, San Francisco and southern California. “Russia, as an emerging nation, brings with it a growing list of millionaires,” says IMI’s Pat Cerjan. "In the World it is among the top three, along with the United States and India.” Mr Cerjan says Europe was always part of IMI’s sales and marketing plan for Rosewood Costa Carmel, but it can’t hurt that the Euro currency is at record highs against a weak US dollar. There’s also been interest from South Korea. “It’s a global world now, and things just don’t come to you,” he says of their strategy. “To have international owners from all over the world, gives the village a good feeling as well.”
© Ralph Nicholson
The single bedroom studios will sell for about $800,000. Other than that IMI still has to decide market price for the houses they will build, just as they have still to decide whether all 80 available lots will be sold with custom-built homes. Depending upon demand, some may be sold as unimproved land. They do know the first major structure to be built after the tent village will be a bridge across one of the water courses that snakes around the property. That will allow heavy machinery onto the property during the wet season, and means they can build four model homes. The 1400 square meter (15,000 square feet) spa will begin at about the same time as the hotel. There will be an environmental learning center in the complex, walking trails and bike paths. The resort has no golf course; instead the developers have negotiated a sharing arrangement with their neighbors. Farther south, the Baltimore, Maryland-based Union Box Company, has agreed a deal for a $100 million, 110-room Ritz Carlton Hotel to be built on 800 hectares (2000 acres) in the Zapotal Valley. That project, which has direct access to Playa Guacamaya, will include a Rees Jones-designed, 18-hole golf course. Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, which is a privately-held luxury hotel management company, has no equity in the Costa Carmel project and will lend its brand in return for a management contract. The backers of the development are Roger Hall, a developer from Boca Raton in Florida and the owner of the land, and Génesis Desarrolladores, which represents a group of investors.
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com/
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
